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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.45
traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna | nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
Translation. The Vedas have the three-guṇa condition (traiguṇya)—saṃsāra—as the subject they disclose;
but you, Arjuna, be free from it—that is, desireless;
free from pairs of opposites (dvandva), ever reliant on the sattva guṇa,
free from acquisition and preservation (yoga-kṣema), self-possessed and vigilant (ātmavān).
Grammar check: 9 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ | traiguṇya-viṣaya | pass |
| vedāḥ | veda | pass |
| nistraiguṇyaḥ | nistraiguṇya | pass |
| bhava | bhū | pass |
| arjuna | arjuna | pass |
| nirdvandvaḥ | nirdvaṃdva | pass |
| nitya-sattva-sthaḥ | nitya-sattva-stha | pass |
| niryoga-kṣemaḥ | niryoga-kṣema | pass |
| ātmavān | ātmavat | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Analyze traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ as a possessive bahuvrīhi qualifying vedāḥ: the Vedas are those whose subject matter is traiguṇya, identified here with saṃsāra.→ The bahuvrīhi relation traiguṇyaṃ viṣayo yeṣām, with traiguṇya interpreted as saṃsāra.
gita [1]traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ traiguṇyaṃ saṃsāro viṣayaḥ prakāśayitavyaḥ yeṣāṃ te vedāḥ traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ |
‘Having traiguṇya as their subject’: traiguṇya is saṃsāra, the subject to be disclosed by those texts; those are the Vedas, ‘having traiguṇya as their subject.’
Translate nistraiguṇyaḥ contextually as freedom from the three-guṇa condition understood specifically as desirelessness, rather than as an unqualified claim that Arjuna has already transcended every guṇa.→ ‘Be free from the three-guṇa condition—that is, desireless.’
gita [2]tvaṃ tu nistraiguṇyo bhava arjuna, niṣkāmo bhava ity arthaḥ |
But you, Arjuna, be nistraiguṇya; the meaning is: be free from desire.
Classify nistraiguṇya as a prādi/ablatival tatpuruṣa for morphological purposes.
→ Prādi/ablatival tatpuruṣa, while allowing its adjectival predicative use.
Take nistraiguṇyaḥ, nirdvandvaḥ, nitya-sattva-sthaḥ, niryoga-kṣemaḥ, and ātmavān as nominative-singular predicates of the addressed Arjuna under the expressed or repeated imperative bhava.→ A coordinated series of injunctions, with bhava supplied to each predicate.
gita [2, 4, 5, 6, 7]tvaṃ tu nistraiguṇyo bhava arjuna, niṣkāmo bhava ity arthaḥ |
tataḥ nirgataḥ nirdvandvo bhava |
nitya-sattva-sthaḥ sadā sattva-guṇāśrito bhava |
tathā niryoga-kṣemo 'nupāttasya upādānaṃ yogaḥ, upāttasya rakṣaṇaṃ kṣemaḥ, yoga-kṣema-pradhānasya śreyasi pravṛttir duṣkarā ity ataḥ niryoga-kṣemo bhava |
ātmavān apramattaś ca bhava |
Be nistraiguṇya; be one who has gone beyond the pairs; be always reliant on sattva; therefore be free from acquisition and preservation; and be vigilant as ātmavān.
Understand nirdvandvaḥ as freedom from opposing pairs, especially objects producing pleasure and pain, rather than as mere social independence or absence of rivalry.→ ‘Free from pairs of opposites.’ The compound relation is dvandvāt nirgataḥ.
gita [3, 4]nirdvandvaḥ sukha-duḥkha-hetū sa-pratipakṣau padārthau dvandva-śabda-vācyau |
tataḥ nirgataḥ nirdvandvo bhava |
The two opposed objects that cause pleasure and pain are denoted by the word dvandva. Having gone beyond that, be nirdvandva.
Give nitya adverbial scope and construe sattva as the sattva guṇa: nitya-sattva-sthaḥ means always established in or reliant upon sattva.→ ‘Ever reliant on the sattva guṇa.’
gita [5]nitya-sattva-sthaḥ sadā sattva-guṇāśrito bhava |
As nitya-sattva-stha, be always reliant on the sattva guṇa.
Parse niryoga-kṣemaḥ as nir taking scope over the coordinated pair yoga-kṣema, where yoga is acquiring what has not been acquired and kṣema is preserving what has been acquired.→ ‘Free from acquisition and preservation.’
gita [6]tathā niryoga-kṣemo 'nupāttasya upādānaṃ yogaḥ, upāttasya rakṣaṇaṃ kṣemaḥ, yoga-kṣema-pradhānasya śreyasi pravṛttir duṣkarā ity ataḥ niryoga-kṣemo bhava |
Likewise, be free from yoga and kṣema. Yoga is acquiring what has not been acquired; kṣema is preserving what has been acquired. Since pursuit of the highest good is difficult for one chiefly occupied with acquisition and preservation, therefore be free from them.
Render ātmavān as self-possessed and vigilant, not literally as merely ‘possessing a self’ or ‘having a soul.’→ ‘Self-possessed and vigilant.’
gita [7]ātmavān apramattaś ca bhava |
Be ātmavān and vigilant, not negligent.
Understand the injunctions as disciplines accompanying performance of Arjuna’s own duty, not as an instruction to abandon action.→ The instruction applies while Arjuna performs his sva-dharma.
gita [8]eṣa tava upadeśaḥ sva-dharmam anutiṣṭhataḥ ||bhgs_2.45||
This is the instruction for you as you perform your own duty.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ traiguṇyaṃ saṃsāro viṣayaḥ prakāśayitavyaḥ yeṣāṃ te vedāḥ traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ |
2tvaṃ tu nistraiguṇyo bhava arjuna, niṣkāmo bhava ity arthaḥ |
3nirdvandvaḥ sukha-duḥkha-hetū sa-pratipakṣau padārthau dvandva-śabda-vācyau |
4tataḥ nirgataḥ nirdvandvo bhava |
5nitya-sattva-sthaḥ sadā sattva-guṇāśrito bhava |
6tathā niryoga-kṣemo 'nupāttasya upādānaṃ yogaḥ, upāttasya rakṣaṇaṃ kṣemaḥ, yoga-kṣema-pradhānasya śreyasi pravṛttir duṣkarā ity ataḥ niryoga-kṣemo bhava |
7ātmavān apramattaś ca bhava |
8eṣa tava upadeśaḥ sva-dharmam anutiṣṭhataḥ ||bhgs_2.45||
9sarveṣu vedokteṣu karmasu yāny uktāny anantāni phalāni tāni nāpekṣyante cet, kim arthaṃ tāni īśvarāyety anuṣṭhīyante ity ucyate |
10sṛṇu -