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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.54
arjuna uvāca sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhi-sthasya keśava | sthita-dhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim
Translation. Arjuna said:
“What is the description of one of established wisdom (sthita-prajña)—whose cognition ‘I am the supreme Brahman’ stands firm—of one established in samādhi, O Keśava?
What might the steady-minded one himself say? How might he sit? How might he walk?”
Grammar check: 13 words pass / 1 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 |
|---|
| arjunaḥ | arjuna | pass |
| uvāca | vac | pass |
| sthita-prajñasya | sthita-prajña | pass |
| kā | kim | pass |
| bhāṣā | bhāṣā | pass |
| samādhi-sthasya | samādhi-stha | pass |
| keśava | keśava | pass |
| sthita-dhīḥ | sthita-dhī | pass |
| kim | kim | pass |
| prabhāṣeta | bhāṣ | pass |
| kim | kim | pass |
| āsīta | ās | pass |
| vrajeta | vraj | fail |
| kim | kim | 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.
sthita-prajña is a masculine bahuvrīhi, ‘one whose cognition is established’; the commentary specifies that cognition as ‘I am the supreme Brahman.’→ A bahuvrīhi, sthitā prajñā yasya saḥ, with sthita understood as pratiṣṭhita and prajñā as the established cognition ‘I am the supreme Brahman.’
gita [1]sthitā pratiṣṭhitā aham asmi paraṃ brahma iti prajñā yasya saḥ sthita-prajñas tasya sthita-prajñasya
He is ‘one of established cognition’ whose cognition—‘I am the supreme Brahman’—is established; the genitive is ‘of that one of established cognition.’
kā bhāṣā asks for the person’s description or characterization, especially how others speak of him, rather than asking which language he uses.→ ‘What is the description …?’ The commentary mentions speech or utterance but resolves the construal through the passive parair bhāṣyate, ‘is spoken of by others.’
gita [1]kā bhāṣā kiṃ bhāṣaṇaṃ vacanaṃ katham asau parair bhāṣyate
What is the bhāṣā—what speaking or statement; how is this person spoken of by others?
samādhi-stha is a locative tatpuruṣa meaning ‘established in samādhi,’ and samādhi-sthasya is genitive singular.→ Locative tatpuruṣa: samādhau sthitaḥ.
gita [1]samādhi-sthasya samādhau sthitasya
‘Of one established in samādhi’ means ‘of one situated in samādhi.’
sthita-dhīḥ is one masculine bahuvrīhi compound and is synonymous here with sthita-prajñaḥ.→ Masculine nominative singular bahuvrīhi, sthitā dhīḥ yasya saḥ; its referent is identified with the sthita-prajña.
gita [2]sthita-dhīḥ sthita-prajñaḥ
The steady-minded one is the one of established cognition.
The first kim, with prabhāṣeta, is accusative ‘what,’ not adverbial ‘how.’→ Accusative object, ‘what might he himself say?’ The commentary retains kim here while explicitly changing the later interrogatives to katham.
gita [2]sthita-dhīḥ sthita-prajñaḥ svayaṃ vā kiṃ prabhāṣeta
Or what might the steady-minded—that is, the one of established cognition—himself say?
The kim forms associated with āsīta and vrajeta are adverbial accusatives meaning ‘how,’ governing the manner of sitting and walking.→ Adverbial ‘how,’ because the commentary paraphrases both sitting and walking with katham.
gita [3]kim āsīta vrajeta kim āsanaṃ vrajanaṃ vā tasya katham ity arthaḥ
‘How might he sit? How might he walk?’ means: what is the manner of his sitting or walking?
The three VidhiLiṅ verbs are rendered with modal ‘might/would’ rather than flattened into simple present tense.
→ Potential/modal ‘might,’ reflecting the optative morphology while preserving the interrogative characterization.
The questions collectively seek the defining characteristics (lakṣaṇa) of the sthita-prajña, not merely incidental details of posture or motion.→ A coordinated inquiry into the sthita-prajña’s defining characteristics.
gita [4]sthita-prajñasya lakṣaṇam anena lokena pṛcchayate ||bhgs_2.54||
The defining characteristic of the sthita-prajña is asked by this [verse]. The transmitted lokena is probably an error for ślokena.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1sthitā pratiṣṭhitā aham asmi paraṃ brahma iti prajñā yasya saḥ sthita-prajñas tasya sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā kiṃ bhāṣaṇaṃ vacanaṃ katham asau parair bhāṣyate samādhi-sthasya samādhau sthitasya he keśava |
2sthita-dhīḥ sthita-prajñaḥ svayaṃ vā kiṃ prabhāṣeta |
3kim āsīta vrajeta kim āsanaṃ vrajanaṃ vā tasya katham ity arthaḥ |
4sthita-prajñasya lakṣaṇam anena lokena pṛcchayate ||bhgs_2.54||