Bg. 2.70 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् । तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्‍नोति न कामकामी ॥ ७० ॥

Verse text

āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī

Synonyms

āpūryamāṇam — always being filled ; acala-pratiṣṭham — steadily situated ; samudram — the ocean ; āpaḥ — waters ; praviśanti — enter ; yadvat — as ; tadvat — so ; kāmāḥ — desires ; yam — unto whom ; praviśanti — enter ; sarve — all ; saḥ — that person ; śāntim — peace ; āpnoti — achieves ; na — not ; kāma-kāmī — one who desires to fulfill desires.

Translation

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

70. Just as the rivers enter the ocean which has fixed shores and is never quite full, so the objects of enjoyment enter into the sthita-prajṣa, but he remains peaceful. This is not so for the desirer of those objects.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

70. Just as the rivers enter the ocean which has fixed banks and is never quite full, so the objects of enjoyment enter into the sthita prajṣa, but he remains peaceful. This is not so for the desirer of those objects.

Purport

Although the vast ocean is always filled with water, it is always, especially during the rainy season, being filled with much more water. But the ocean remains the same – steady; it is not agitated, nor does it cross beyond the limit of its brink. That is also true of a person fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As long as one has the material body, the demands of the body for sense gratification will continue. The devotee, however, is not disturbed by such desires, because of his fullness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious man is not in need of anything, because the Lord fulfills all his material necessities. Therefore he is like the ocean – always full in himself. Desires may come to him like the waters of the rivers that flow into the ocean, but he is steady in his activities, and he is not even slightly disturbed by desires for sense gratification. That is the proof of a Kṛṣṇa conscious man – one who has lost all inclinations for material sense gratification, although the desires are present. Because he remains satisfied in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he can remain steady, like the ocean, and therefore enjoy full peace. Others, however, who want to fulfill desires even up to the limit of liberation, what to speak of material success, never attain peace. The fruitive workers, the salvationists, and also the yogīs who are after mystic powers are all unhappy because of unfulfilled desires. But the person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is happy in the service of the Lord, and he has no desires to be fulfilled. In fact, he does not even desire liberation from the so-called material bondage. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa have no material desires, and therefore they are in perfect peace.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

This verse describes the sthita-prajṣa’s condition of not being affected or agitated when he accepts the sense objects. Just as in the rainy season, rivers (āpaḥ) here and there enter into the ocean, almost filling it up (ā—almost, pūryamāṇam—filled), but not being able to completely fill it up, not being able to go beyond the shore (acalā-pratiṣṭham), in a similar manner the objects of sense enjoyment (kāmaḥ) come to the sthita-prajṣa for his enjoyment (but cannot disturb him). Just as, whether the rivers enter or do not enter the ocean, the ocean is not disturbed at all, the sthita-prajṣa (saḥ) remains undisturbed whether he gets objects of enjoyment or not. He attains the stage of jṣāna (śāntim).

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

In this verse the Lord makes clear the state mentioned in the previous verse. Just as rivers full from the rainy season enter the ocean which by its nature is full, with shores not overflowing, and cannot cause any change to the ocean, so that person into whom sense objects (sarve kāmāḥ), attracted to him by his prārabdha karmas, enter but cannot cause change—that persons attains peace. Thought the sense objects come to his senses, the sthita prajṣa does not undergo any change at all, because of the satisfaction of realizing the bliss of ātmā. But he who desires the sense objects (kāma kāmī) does not attain that peace.