Chapter 2 – SrI bhagavath gIthA

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

SlOkam – Original

EshA brAhmI sthithi: pArtha nainAm prApya vimuhyathi |
sthithvAsyAm anthakAlE’pi brahmanirvANam ruchchathi |

word-by-word meaning (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

hE pArtha – Oh arjuna!
EshA sthithi: – being situated in detached mode of action towards achieving true knowledge of self
brAhmI – (by nurturing gyAna yOga) it facilitates attaining AthmA which is known as brahmam
EnAm – being situated in detached mode of action
prApya – having attained
na vimuhyathi – (one is) not bewildered;
asyAm – in this state of karma yOga
anthakAlE api – even towards the end of one’s life
sthithva – being situated
nirvANam – blissful
brahma – AthmA (self)
ruchchathi – attains

Simple Translation (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

Oh arjuna! Being situated in detached mode of action towards achieving true knowledge of self, (by nurturing gyAna yOga) it facilitates attaining AthmA which is known as brahmam; having attained this state (of being situated in detached mode of action), one is not bewildered; being situated in this state of karma yOga even towards the end of one’s life, one attains blissful [realisation of] AthmA (self).

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘This is the Brāhmī-state, Pārtha ¹! attaining which one will not be deluded. Remaining in it (state), even in old age, he will attain to Brahm-bliss.’

This is the state, or condition of work-performance in an unselfish or disinterested manner, based on the knowledge (or belief) of the eternal (nature of) ātmā. This method has for its aim the achievement of true wisdom (sthita-dhī²); It is Brāhmī or that which leads to Brahm. Knowing the philosophy of work to be like this, he will no more be under infatuation, meaning that he will not again enter samsāra ³ (the mirage of conditioned existence). If one adopts this method, even in his declining years, he will attain Brahma-nirvāṇa, or Brahm-bliss (final liberation), i.e., he will attain to ātmā, the seat of exclusive beatitude.

Thus, in the Second Lecture, -to him who was ignorant of the nature of ātmā, and that work like war etc., leads to ātmā-attainment; -to him who laboured under the misconception that body is ātmā; who, under this misconception retired from battle, -(to Arjuna), was declared the Sāṇkhya-knowledge concerning the eternal ātmā, and the Yoga (or union)-producing sthita-prajñatā ⁴ or settled knowledge, thus teaching a karma-yoga, or the philosophy of performing work, disinterestedly, based on the (Sāṇkhya)-knowledge.

This doctrine is what is summarized in the verse:

‘Ātmā is eternal, and work is to be void of interest; ‘the one is Sāṇkhya-wisdom; the other, Yoga-wisdom; also ‘the aim of the sthita-dhi ⁵, or him of illumined understanding; ‘these are declared in the Second Lecture for curing his ‘(Arjuna’s) folly.’ ⁶

OM TAT SAT

Thus closes Lecture the Second, named Sāṇkhya-Yoga,

with Śri Rāmānuja’s commentary thereon,

in the discourse between Śri Kṛishṇa and Arjuna,

In the Science of Yoga,

in the Divine knowledge of the Upanishads,

or the Chants of Bhagavān,

the Bhagavad Gītā.

>> Chapter 3

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Epithet of Arjuna, being a descendant of Pṛithu-Chakravarti. ↩
The wisdom or sthita-prajñatā, is the superior illumination, or super-sensuous consciousness, or intuition produced by Yoga-practice; vide my Three Lectures on “Inspiration, etc.”. Will-concentration is ripened wisdom; this is a spiritual illumination of the mind which sets in before ātmā is realised. It may be called intuition. (sthita-prajñatā) See verse II-39. ↩
See note … ↩
The wisdom or sthita-prajñatā, is the superior illumination, or super-sensuous consciousness, or intuition produced by Yoga-practice; vide my Three Lectures on “Inspiration, etc.”. Will-concentration is ripened wisdom; this is a spiritual illumination of the mind which sets in before ātmā is realised. It may be called intuition. (sthita-prajñatā) See verse II-39. ↩
See note … ↩
Verse 6, Yāmunāchārya’s Gītārtha-Sangraha. ↩

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 2

<< Chapter 2 verse 71

Simple

eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha
naināṁ prāpya vimuhyati
sthitvāsyām anta-kāle ’pi
brahma-nirvāṇam ṛcchati

‘This is the Brāhmī-state, Pārtha¹! attaining which one will not be deluded. Remaining in it (state), even in old age, he will attain to Brahm-bliss.’

This is the state, or condition of work-performance in an unselfish or disinterested manner, based on the knowledge (or belief) of the eternal (nature of) ātmā. This method has for its aim the achievement of true wisdom (sthita-dhī²); It is Brāhmī or that which leads to Brahm. Knowing the philosophy of work to be like this, he will no more be under infatuation, meaning that he will not again enter samsāra³ (the mirage of conditioned existence). If one adopts this method, even in his declining years, he will attain Brahma-nirvāṇa, or Brahm-bliss (final liberation), i.e., he will attain to ātmā, the seat of exclusive beatitude.

Thus, in the Second Lecture, -to him who was ignorant of the nature of ātmā, and that work like war etc., leads to ātmā-attainment; -to him who labored under the misconception that body is ātmā; who, under this misconception retired from battle, -(to Arjuna), was declared the Sāṇkhya-knowledge concerning the eternal ātmā, and the Yoga (or union)-producing sthita-prajñatā⁴ or settled knowledge, thus teaching a karma-yoga, or the philosophy of performing work, disinterestedly, based on the (Sāṇkhya)-knowledge.