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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.70
āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī
Translation. Just as waters enter the ocean,
being filled, yet of immovable stability,
so all desires enter that man;
he attains peace (śānti)—liberation—not the habitual craver of desired objects.
Grammar check: 16 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 |
| āpūryamāṇam | pṝ | pass |
| acala-pratiṣṭham | acala-pratiṣṭha | pass |
| samudram | samudra | pass |
| āpaḥ | ap | pass |
| praviśanti | viś | pass |
| yadvat | yadvat | pass |
| tadvat | tadvat | pass |
| kāmāḥ | kāma | pass |
| yam | yad | pass |
| praviśanti | viś | pass |
| sarve | sarva | pass |
| saḥ | tad | pass |
| śāntim | śānti | pass |
| āpnoti | āp | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| kāma-kāmī | kāma-kāmin | 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.
āpūryamāṇam is construed passively, ‘being filled,’ with the waters as the understood agents, rather than actively as ‘filling.’→ Passively ‘being filled by waters,’ agreeing with samudram.
gita [1]āpūryamāṇam adbhir
‘being filled by waters’
acala-pratiṣṭham is a bahuvrīhi describing the ocean as possessing immovable stability; it is not two separately inflected words or merely a locative description of a fixed foundation.→ Bahuvrīhi: acalā pratiṣṭhā avasthitir yasya saḥ.
gita [1]acala-pratiṣṭham acalatayā pratiṣṭhā avasthitiḥ yasya tam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram
‘Acala-pratiṣṭha: that ocean whose pratiṣṭhā—remaining or state—is characterized by immobility.’
The two accusatives samudram and yam are the respective goals of praviśanti, and yadvat–tadvat directly correlates the entry of waters into the ocean with the entry of desires into the person.→ Direct accusative goals within a yadvat–tadvat simile.
gita [1]samudram āpaḥ sarvato gatāḥ praviśanti svātmastham avikriyam eva santaṃ yadvat, tadvat kāmāḥ viṣaya-saṃnidhāv api sarvataḥ icchā-viśeṣāḥ yaṃ puruṣam --- samudram iva āpaḥ -- avikurvantaḥ praviśanti
‘Just as waters coming from every side enter the ocean, which remains established in itself and unchanged, so particular desires arising from every side, even when objects are present, enter that person without altering him—as waters enter the ocean.’
In the simile's application, kāmāḥ means particular desires or wishes, not external pleasure objects.→ Particular desires arising in the presence of objects.
gita [1]kāmāḥ viṣaya-saṃnidhāv api sarvataḥ icchā-viśeṣāḥ
‘The kāmāḥ are particular wishes arising from every side even in the presence of sense objects.’
The desires' ‘entry’ does not mean that they disturb or gain mastery over the realized person: Śaṅkara says that they dissolve within the self without changing him.→ They enter without altering him, dissolve in the self, and do not bring him under their control.
gita [1]avikurvantaḥ praviśanti sarve ātmany eva pralīyante na svātma-vaśaṃ kurvanti
‘Without modifying him they all enter; they dissolve in the self alone and do not bring him under their own control.’
śānti is translated as peace while explicitly identifying its technical referent here as liberation (mokṣa), not merely psychological calm.→ ‘Peace (śānti)—liberation.’
gita [1]sa śāntir mokṣam āpnoti
‘He attains śānti, liberation.’ The transmitted phrase śāntir mokṣam appears superficially irregular; it is read through as the gloss śāntiḥ = mokṣaḥ in context.
In kāma-kāmī, kāma denotes desired objects, while kāmin marks a habitual disposition to desire them. The final na negates an understood repetition of ‘attains,’ so this person does not attain liberation.→ ‘The habitual craver of objects of desire,’ who does not attain that peace.
gita [1]netaraḥ kāma-kāmī, kāmyanta iti kāmāḥ viṣayāḥ tān kāmayituṃ śīlaṃ yasya saḥ kāma-kāmī, naiva prāpnotīty arthaḥ
‘Not the other, the kāma-kāmī. Things that are desired are kāmāḥ, the objects; one whose habit is to desire them is a kāma-kāmī. The meaning is that he certainly does not attain it.’
āpaḥ is nominative plural feminine from the stem ap, not nominative plural masculine from a stem āpa; compare [MW s.v. ap, 47,3].→ ap, Stri Prathama Bahu.
gita []
The commentary uses the form as the subject of praviśanti but does not explicitly analyze its gender or stem; classical grammar and the cited dictionary determine the morphology.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1āpūryamāṇam adbhir acala-pratiṣṭham acalatayā pratiṣṭhā avasthitiḥ yasya tam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ sarvato gatāḥ praviśanti svātmastham avikriyam eva santaṃ yadvat, tadvat kāmāḥ viṣaya-saṃnidhāv api sarvataḥ icchā-viśeṣāḥ yaṃ puruṣam --- samudram iva āpaḥ -- avikurvantaḥ praviśanti sarve ātmany eva pralīyante na svātma-vaśaṃ kurvanti, sa śāntir mokṣam āpnoti, netaraḥ kāma-kāmī, kāmyanta iti kāmāḥ viṣayāḥ tān kāmayituṃ śīlaṃ yasya saḥ kāma-kāmī, naiva prāpnotīty arthaḥ ||bhgs_2.70||
2yasmād evaṃ tasmāt -