Bg. 2.69 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी । यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥

Verse text

yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ

Synonyms

yā — what ; niśā — is night ; sarva — all ; bhūtānām — of living entities ; tasyām — in that ; jāgarti — is wakeful ; saṁyamī — the self-controlled ; yasyām — in which ; jāgrati — are awake ; bhūtāni — all beings ; sā — that is ; niśā — night ; paśyataḥ — for the introspective ; muneḥ — sage.

Translation

What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

69. The sthita-prajṣa is awake in the night when all other living entities sleep. The night of the observant sthita-prajṣa is the time during which the all living entities are awake.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

69. The sthita prajṣa is awake in the night when all other living entities sleep. The night of the observant sthita prajṣa is the time during which the all living entities are awake.

Purport

There are two classes of intelligent men. One is intelligent in material activities for sense gratification, and the other is introspective and awake to the cultivation of self-realization. Activities of the introspective sage, or thoughtful man, are night for persons materially absorbed. Materialistic persons remain asleep in such a night due to their ignorance of self-realization. The introspective sage remains alert in the “night” of the materialistic men. The sage feels transcendental pleasure in the gradual advancement of spiritual culture, whereas the man in materialistic activities, being asleep to self-realization, dreams of varieties of sense pleasure, feeling sometimes happy and sometimes distressed in his sleeping condition. The introspective man is always indifferent to materialistic happiness and distress. He goes on with his self-realization activities undisturbed by material reactions.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sthita-prajṣa is able to control his senses very naturally. There are two types of intelligence: that directed towards soul and that directed towards matter. The intelligence directed towards the soul is night for all other entities. Just as in the night, people sleeping do not know what is happening at that time, so all living entities do not know the things which are being perceived by the intelligence directed towards the soul. But during that night, the sthita-prajṣa or saṁyamī, controlling his senses, is awake, not sleeping. In other words he directly realizes the bliss from fixing his intelligence on the soul. When the living entities are awake, with intelligence directed towards material sense objects, they realize directly the happiness, lamentation and bewilderment of those sense objects upon which their intelligence is fixed. They are not sleeping. But that is night for the muni, the sthita-prajṣa, who does not experience fixing his intellect on those objects at all. But he does see those objects. He looks upon (paśyataḥ) all those sense objects which give happiness and distress to the people bound in samsāra with disinterest. This means that he accepts the required sense objects for his survival without being affected.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

It has been stated that for the sādhaka or person practicing to attain the state of sthita prajṣa, controlling the senses is the goal of his efforts. This verse states that for one who has achieved the stage of sthita prajṣa, sense control is automatically achieved. There are two types of intelligence: that fixed on the ātmā and that fixed on material sense objects. The intelligence fixed on ātmā is compared by metaphor to the night for all living entities. That intelligence is like night, since it does not manifest the ātmā to them. As if at night, all people, sleeping in regard to the intelligence fixed on ātma, do not realize the ātmā to be attained by that intelligence fixed in ātmā. The person controlling the senses (saṁyamī) however is awake, not asleep during that night. He realizes the ātmā which is to be attained by that intelligence. Other living entities, awake with intelligence fixed on material enjoyment, experience that material enjoyment. They are not sleeping at that time. That however is night for the muni, the sthita prajṣa. It does not bring about material pleasure for him. What type of person is he? The person directly perceiving the ātmā also experiences with indifference the sense objects which come to him by prārabdha karma (paśyataḥ). One who sees the ātmā does not experience the taste of other objects, like a dancing girl who pays full attention to the pot balanced on her head.

Surrender Unto Me

There are two kinds of people who restrain the senses from their objects: (1) one who is endeavoring for self‑realization and (2) one who just can't, who is being forced to do by circumstance. The first example is compared "daytime" it is light in his life and the other's life is like "night" or hell. They are just oposite.