Bg. 6.8 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्‍तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रिय: । युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्ट्राश्मकाञ्चन: ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

jṣāna-vijṣāna-tṛptātmā kūṭa-stho vijitendriyaḥ yukta ity ucyate yogī sama-loṣṭrāśma-kāṣcanaḥ

Synonyms

jṣāna — by acquired knowledge ; vijṣāna — and realized knowledge ; tṛpta — satisfied ; ātmā — a living entity ; kūṭa-sthaḥ — spiritually situated ; vijita-indriyaḥ — sensually controlled ; yuktaḥ — competent for self-realization ; iti — thus ; ucyate — is said ; yogī — a mystic ; sama — equipoised ; loṣṭra — pebbles ; aśma — stone ; kāṣcanaḥ — gold.

Translation

A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogī [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything – whether it be pebbles, stones or gold – as the same.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

8. He who is satisfied by scriptural teachings and realization, who is pervaded by one nature, completely in control of the senses, and who considers a lump of earth, stone and gold as the same, is called a yogī.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

8. He who is satisfied by scriptural teachings and realization, who is pervaded by one nature, completely in control of the senses, and who considers a lump of earth, stone and gold as the same, is called a yogī.

Purport

Book knowledge without realization of the Supreme Truth is useless. This is stated as follows: ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ “No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” ( Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234) This Bhagavad-gītā is the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. No one can become Kṛṣṇa conscious simply by mundane scholarship. One must be fortunate enough to associate with a person who is in pure consciousness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has realized knowledge, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, because he is satisfied with pure devotional service. By realized knowledge, one becomes perfect. By transcendental knowledge one can remain steady in his convictions, but by mere academic knowledge one can be easily deluded and confused by apparent contradictions. It is the realized soul who is actually self-controlled, because he is surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. He is transcendental because he has nothing to do with mundane scholarship. For him mundane scholarship and mental speculation, which may be as good as gold to others, are of no greater value than pebbles or stones.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

He is devoid of desires, being satisfied by knowledge attained by teachings (jṣāna) and realization (vijṣāna). He remains situated in one nature at all times (kūṭa-sthaḥ). [Note: He does not change but remains fixed in ātmā.] Since he has no attraction for any object, he sees as equal a lump of dirt (loṣṭa), rock and gold.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

One who is satisfied, whose mind is filled with knowledge from scripture (jṣāna) and realization of individual ātmā (vijṣāna), who is situated at all times in the same nature (kūṭasthaḥ), who has conquered the senses because of being fixed only in the ātmā apart from matter, who sees all matter such as a lump of earth, stone and gold as one, —such a yogī who is engaged in niṣkāma karma (yuktaḥ) is called a person fit to practicing the yoga for seeing the ātmā.

Surrender Unto Me

Those are the things that satisfies him ‑ his jnana and vijnana. He is looking externally for something else. And in order to do this one has to have control of his mind. This stage is called 'triptatma', satisfied in the self. Another meaning for 'triptatma' is like an anvil being beaten by a blacksmith. That is what one has to do practically to his mind to get it to be satisfied with jnana and vijnana and not with sense gratification. This is the qualification of this Yogarudha stage where one can give up work, niskama karma.