Devanagari
बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
bāhya-sparśeṣv asaktātmā
vindaty ātmani yat sukham
sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā
sukham akṣayam aśnute
Synonyms
bāhya-sparśeṣu
—
in external sense pleasure
;
asakta-ātmā
—
one who is not attached
;
vindati
—
enjoys
;
ātmani
—
in the self
;
yat
—
that which
;
sukham
—
happiness
;
saḥ
—
he
;
brahma-yoga
—
by concentration in Brahman
;
yukta-ātmā
—
self-connected
;
sukham
—
happiness
;
akṣayam
—
unlimited
;
aśnute
—
enjoys.
Translation
Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
21. He who has attained the happiness of Paramātmā within the soul and is not attached to the happiness from sense objects, being totally absorbed in Paramātmā, attains permanent happiness.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
21. He who, not attached to the happiness from sense object, attains the happiness of ātmā, then becomes fixed in realization of paramātmā and attains indestructible happiness.
Purport
Śrī Yāmunācārya, a great devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, said:
yad-avadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravinde nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāne bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca
“Since I have been engaged in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa, realizing ever-new pleasure in Him, whenever I think of sex pleasure I spit at the thought, and my lips curl with distaste.” A person in brahma-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is so absorbed in the loving service of the Lord that he loses his taste for material sense pleasure altogether. The highest pleasure in terms of matter is sex pleasure. The whole world is moving under its spell, and a materialist cannot work at all without this motivation. But a person engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can work with greater vigor without sex pleasure, which he avoids. That is the test in spiritual realization. Spiritual realization and sex pleasure go ill together. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is not attracted to any kind of sense pleasure, due to his being a liberated soul.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
His mind is not attached (asaktātmā) to the happiness of sense objects (bāhya sparśeṣu), since he experiences in the soul (ātmani) happiness from having attained Paramātmā. He then attains that happiness permanently (akṣayam), since, in constantly relishing the sweetness, he does not relish lower things.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse describes that a person realizes his own ātmā and then paramātmā. When a person, not attached to experiencing the objects of the senses, realizes his own nature and experiences bliss, he then attains samādhi in paramātmā (brahma yoga yuktātmā) and attains indestructible happiness which is an experience of great bliss (akṣayam sukham).