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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.59
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ | rasa-varjaṃ raso 'py asya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
Translation. The senses—called “objects” here—of an embodied person who takes in no sense objects withdraw, excluding attachment (rasa, i.e. rāga);
even his attachment ceases when he has seen the Supreme—the ultimate reality (paramārtha-tattva), Brahman.
Grammar check: 10 words pass / 0 flagged / 1 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 |
|---|
| viṣayāḥ | viṣaya | pass |
| vinivartante | vṛt | pass |
| nirāhārasya | nirāhāra | pass |
| dehinaḥ | dehin | pass |
| rasa-varjam | rasa-varjam | unsupported |
| rasaḥ | rasa | pass |
| api | api | pass |
| asya | idam | pass |
| param | para | pass |
| dṛṣṭvā | dṛś | pass |
| nivartate | vṛt | 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.
Translate viṣayāḥ as the senses, while indicating that they are being denoted metonymically by the word ‘objects.’→ the senses, here called ‘objects’
gita [1]viṣayāḥ viṣayopalakṣitāni viṣaya-śabda-vācyāni indriyāṇi
The ‘objects’ are the senses, indicated by the objects and denoted by the word viṣaya.
Interpret nirāhārasya as describing someone who is not taking in sense objects, rather than merely someone fasting from food.→ of one taking in no sense objects
gita [1]nirāhārasya anāhriyamāṇa-viṣayasya kaṣṭe tapasi sthitasya mūrkhasyāpi
Of one whose objects are not being brought in, who is engaged in harsh austerity—even of a fool.
Construe nirāhārasya and dehinaḥ as coreferential genitives describing the possessor of the senses.→ the senses of the embodied person who takes in no objects
gita [1]nirāhārasya anāhriyamāṇa-viṣayasya kaṣṭe tapasi sthitasya mūrkhasyāpi vinivartante dehino dehavataḥ
They withdraw for one whose objects are not being brought in, even a fool engaged in harsh austerity—an embodied, body-possessing person.
Analyze rasa-varjam as an indeclinable tatpuruṣa compound in which rasa is what is excluded.→ rasaṃ varjayitvā, ‘excluding attachment’
gita [1]rasa-varjaṃ raso rāgo viṣayeṣu yas taṃ varjayitvā
‘Excluding rasa’: rasa is the attachment that exists toward objects; excluding that.
Render rasa as attachment (rāga), not literal taste, juice, essence, or aesthetic sentiment.→ attachment (rasa, i.e. rāga)
gita [1]raso rāgo viṣayeṣu
Rasa is attachment toward the objects.
gita [2]rasa-śabdo rāge prasiddhaḥ, sva-rasena pravṛttaḥ rasikaḥ rasajñaḥ, ity ādi-darśanāt
The word rasa is well established in the meaning ‘attachment,’ as seen from expressions such as ‘acting from his own inclination,’ rasika, and rasajña.
Take api with rasaḥ: even the subtle attachment that survives sensory restraint eventually ceases.→ even his attachment
gita [3]so 'pi raso rañjana-rūpaḥ sūkṣmo 'sya yateḥ
Even that subtle rasa, whose nature is affective coloring, belonging to this ascetic.
Identify param as Brahman, the ultimate reality, and understand the ascetic referred to by asya—not rasaḥ—as the experiencer expressed by dṛṣṭvā.→ when the ascetic has realized the Supreme, the ultimate reality, Brahman
gita [3]asya yateḥ paraṃ paramārtha-tattvaṃ brahma dṛṣṭvā upalabhya aham eva tat iti vartamānasya nivartate
It ceases for this ascetic who, having seen and realized the Supreme—the ultimate-reality principle, Brahman—abides in the awareness ‘I myself am that.’
Render nivartate as genuine cessation of attachment through right realization, not merely temporary suppression.→ ceases through realization of Brahman
gita [3]nivartate nirbījaṃ viṣaya-vijñānaṃ saṃpadyate ity arthaḥ
It ceases; the cognition of objects becomes seedless—this is the meaning.
gita [4]nāsati samyag-darśane rasasya ucchedaḥ
In the absence of right vision, there is no eradication of rasa.
gita [5]tasmāt samyag-darśanātmikāyāḥ prajñāyāḥ sthairyaṃ kartavyam ity abhiprāyaḥ
Therefore stability of insight whose nature is right vision must be established—this is the intention.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1yadyapi viṣayāḥ viṣayopalakṣitāni viṣaya-śabda-vācyāni indriyāṇi nirāhārasya anāhriyamāṇa-viṣayasya kaṣṭe tapasi sthitasya mūrkhasyāpi vinivartante dehino dehavataḥ rasa-varjaṃ raso rāgo viṣayeṣu yas taṃ varjayitvā |
2rasa-śabdo rāge prasiddhaḥ, sva-rasena pravṛttaḥ rasikaḥ rasajñaḥ, ity ādi-darśanāt |
3so 'pi raso rañjana-rūpaḥ sūkṣmo 'sya yateḥ paraṃ paramārtha-tattvaṃ brahma dṛṣṭvā upalabhya aham eva tat iti vartamānasya nivartate nirbījaṃ viṣaya-vijñānaṃ saṃpadyate ity arthaḥ |
4nāsati samyag-darśane rasasya ucchedaḥ |
5tasmāt samyag-darśanātmikāyāḥ prajñāyāḥ sthairyaṃ kartavyam ity abhiprāyaḥ ||bhgs_2.59||
6samyag-darśana-lakṣaṇa-prajñā-sthairyaṃ cikīrṣatā ādau indriyāṇi sva-vaśe sthāpayitavyāni, yasmāt tad-anavasthāpane doṣam āha ---