February27 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 2; Verses 2.70 (Day 58) Sankhya Yoga

 February 27 – Day 58

Verse 2.70

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं

समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।

तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे

स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥ २-७०॥ 

āpūryamāṇam achala-pratiṣhṭhaṁ
samudram āpaḥ praviśhanti yadwat
tadwat kāmā yaṁ praviśhanti sarve
sa śhāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī (2.70) 

ஆபூ¹ர்யமாணமச¹லப்¹ரதி¹ஷ்டம்

ஸமுத்³ரமாப¹: ப்¹ரவிஶன்தி¹ யத்³வத்¹ |
த¹த்³வத்¹கா¹மா யம் ப்¹ரவிஶன்தி¹ ஸர்வே

ஸ ஶான்தி¹மாப்¹னோதி¹ ந கா¹மகா¹மீ ||70|| 

70. He attains peace into whom all desires enter as waters enter the ocean, which, filled from all sides, remains unmoved; but not the man who is full of desires. 

Commentary: Just as the ocean filled with waters from all sides remains unmoved, so also the sage who is resting in his own Svarupa or the Self is not a bit affected though desires of all sorts enter from all sides. The sage attains  peace of liberation but not he who longs for objects of sensual enjoyment and entertains various desires. (Cf. 18:53, 54) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: The mind which runs outside, carried away by the senses is full of evil qualities, the chief among which is ceaseless and insatiable desire, born of rajas and tamas. The mind that is controlled by buddhi is pure. The pure mind is peaceful. Desirelessness is peace.

Kṛṣṇa gives us a beautiful picture vividly illustrating this wonderful truth. Water rises from the ocean as vapour. The wind drives it over the land where the clouds drift over hill-tops and the water comes down as rain. As little streams and rivers, it is then drawn down, and its fate before it reaches the plains is one of extreme uncertainty and restlessness. As it flows over the plains, it is a bit calmer, but not till it reaches the ocean does it attain that supreme peace which was its own original nature! However, the vapour that rises from the ocean regains its original state at once if it rains on the ocean itself. Ocean itself remains the same all the time.

The man who is ignorant and full of rajas and tamas is like the cloud driven over the land – restless and unhappy. Only when he reaches the plain of the guru’s feet and satsang does he have a little peace. After much restlessness he attains God, the ocean. But the desireless, sāttvika man knows how to redirect every desire into its own source, the self. When a desire arises in the mind, let it get reabsorbed into itself, the source of bliss. The self or what-is does not undergo increase or decrease, though all life apparently emerges from it and returns to it. 

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