The Ground Under Everything

Chapter 2 · Verse 1

तं तथा कृपयाऽविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम्।विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः॥

Sanjaya said: To him, overcome with pity, his eyes full of tears and clouded with distress, sunk in grief, Krishna spoke these words.

Before Krishna says anything, we are told what he is looking at.

Chapter 2 · Verse 2

कुतस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम्।अनार्यजुष्टमस्वर्ग्यमकीर्तिकरमर्जुन॥

Krishna said: Where has this weakness come from, at a moment like this? It is not the way of people who see clearly. It leads nowhere good, and it will cost you your name.

No comfort.

Chapter 2 · Verse 3

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप॥

Do not give in to this feebleness, Arjuna. It does not suit you. Shake off this small weakness of heart and stand up, you who burn through your enemies.

Krishna keeps pushing.

Chapter 2 · Verse 4

कथं भीष्ममहं संख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन।इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन॥

Arjuna said: Krishna, how am I to fire arrows at Bhishma and Drona in battle? They are men I owe reverence to.

Arjuna answers with the one objection that has real weight.

Chapter 2 · Verse 5

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके।हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान्॥

Better to live on begged food in this world than to kill these great-souled teachers. If I killed them, even for gain, everything I ate afterwards would be smeared with their blood.

He would rather beg.

Chapter 2 · Verse 6

न चैतद्विद्मः कतरन्नो गरीयो यद्वा जयेम यदि वा नो जयेयुः।यानेव हत्वा न जिजीविषाम स्तेऽवस्थिताः प्रमुखे धार्तराष्ट्राः॥

And we do not even know which would be better - that we win, or that they win. The sons of Dhritarashtra stand in front of us, and if we killed them we would not want to go on living.

Now he admits he does not know.

Chapter 2 · Verse 7

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः ।यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्॥

My nature is crippled by a failing that shames me, and I cannot see straight about what is right. I am asking you: tell me plainly what is better. I am your student. Teach me. I have put myself in your hands.

This is the turn the whole book waits for.

Chapter 2 · Verse 8

न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्या द्यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम्।अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धम् राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम्॥

I cannot see anything that would drive off this grief that is drying up my senses - not an unrivalled and prosperous kingdom on earth, not even lordship over the gods.

He explains why no ordinary answer will help.

Chapter 2 · Verse 9

एवमुक्त्वा हृषीकेशं गुडाकेशः परन्तप।न योत्स्य इति गोविन्दमुक्त्वा तूष्णीं बभूव ह॥

Sanjaya said: Having spoken this way to Krishna, Arjuna said, "I will not fight," and fell silent.

Four words, and then nothing.

Chapter 2 · Verse 10

तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत।सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः॥

Sanjaya said: Then, between the two armies, Krishna spoke to the grief-stricken man - and as he began, he was almost smiling.

Krishna smiles.

Chapter 2 · Verse 11

अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः॥

Krishna said: You grieve for those who need no grieving, and you talk like a wise man while you do it. The wise do not mourn - not for the living, and not for the dead.

The teaching begins, and the first thing it does is take Arjuna's speech apart.

Chapter 2 · Verse 12

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः।न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम्॥

There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings. And none of us will cease to be hereafter.

Krishna makes it personal and specific.

Chapter 2 · Verse 13

देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति॥

Just as the one who lives in this body passes through childhood, youth and old age, so it passes into another body. The steady person is not shaken by this.

This is Krishna's first real argument, and it is cleverer than it looks.

Chapter 2 · Verse 14

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥

Contact with the world brings cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They arrive and they leave. They do not last. Bear them, Arjuna.

A shift from the eternal to the ordinary.

Chapter 2 · Verse 15

यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ।समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते॥

The one these cannot shake - steady, the same in pain and in pleasure - that person is fit for what does not die.

The reward for verse 14, stated immediately.

Chapter 2 · Verse 16

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः।उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः॥

What is not, never comes to be. What is, never stops being. Those who see what is actually there have seen where the line falls between them.

The densest verse so far, and the whole argument rests on it.

Chapter 2 · Verse 17

अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्।विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित् कर्तुमर्हति॥

Know that what spreads through all of this cannot be destroyed. Nobody is able to bring an end to what does not decay.

One thing pervades everything.

Chapter 2 · Verse 18

अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः।अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत॥

These bodies end. The one who wears them does not - it cannot be destroyed, and it cannot be measured. So fight, Arjuna.

Here is the conclusion, and the first time Krishna says the word.

Chapter 2 · Verse 19

य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्।उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते॥

Whoever thinks this kills, and whoever thinks this is killed, have both misunderstood. It does not kill. It is not killed.

Both sides of the transaction are wrong.

Chapter 2 · Verse 20

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥

It is not born and it does not die. It did not come into being and will not stop being. Unborn, constant, always there, ancient - it is not killed when the body is killed.

The most famous description of the self in the book, and it works entirely by negation.

Chapter 2 · Verse 21

वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम्।कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम्॥

If you know this as indestructible, unending, unborn, unchanging - then whom could you possibly kill, Arjuna, and whom could you cause to be killed?

Krishna turns the argument into a question and hands it back.

Chapter 2 · Verse 22

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि।तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही॥

As a person puts aside worn-out clothes and takes new ones, so the one who lives in a body puts aside worn-out bodies and goes into new ones.

The most famous image in the chapter, and the plainest.

Chapter 2 · Verse 23

नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः॥

Weapons do not cut it. Fire does not burn it. Water does not soak it. Wind does not dry it out.

Four denials, one for each element.

Chapter 2 · Verse 24

अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च।नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः॥

It cannot be cut, cannot be burned, cannot be soaked, cannot be dried. It is constant, everywhere, unmoving, fixed, there from the beginning.

The same four denials again, then five positive words.

Chapter 2 · Verse 25

अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते।तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि॥

It is called unshowable, unthinkable, unchangeable. Knowing it is like this, you have no reason to grieve.

Three more words, and the last one is a surprise.

Chapter 2 · Verse 26

अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम्।तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि॥

And even if you think it is constantly born and constantly dies - even then, strong-armed one, you have no reason to grieve.

Krishna changes tack completely.

Chapter 2 · Verse 27

जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च।तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥

Whatever is born will certainly die, and whatever dies will certainly be born. There is no way around this, so you have no reason to mourn.

The second argument, and it needs no belief at all.

Chapter 2 · Verse 28

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत।अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना॥

Beings are unseen before they begin, seen in the middle, and unseen again at the end. Why grieve over that?

A picture rather than an argument.

Chapter 2 · Verse 29

आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेनमाश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः ।आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित्॥

One person looks at this and sees a wonder. Another speaks of it as a wonder. Another hears it described as a wonder. And even having heard, no one really knows it.

The most honest verse in the chapter, and it undercuts everything around it.

Chapter 2 · Verse 30

देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत।तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥

The one who lives in the body - in everyone's body - can never be killed. So you have no reason to grieve for any living thing.

The summing up, and Krishna widens it right at the end.

Chapter 2 · Verse 31

स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि ।धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते॥

And if you look at your own work in the world, you have no reason to waver. For a warrior there is nothing better than a fight that is rightly fought.

Krishna changes ground completely.

Chapter 2 · Verse 32

यदृच्छया चोपपन्नं स्वर्गद्वारमपावृतम्।सुखिनः क्षत्रियाः पार्थ लभन्ते युद्धमीदृशम्॥

Lucky are the warriors who get a fight like this one, Arjuna - arriving unasked, an open door.

A hard verse to like, and it should be read for what it says.

Chapter 2 · Verse 33

अथ चेत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि ।ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि॥

But if you will not fight this rightful fight, then you throw away your own work and your good name, and you take on the fault instead.

The other side of the argument, and it is a threat.

Chapter 2 · Verse 34

अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम्।संभावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते॥

People will tell the story of your disgrace, and they will keep telling it. For a man who has been honoured, disgrace is worse than dying.

Krishna goes after reputation directly.

Chapter 2 · Verse 35

भयाद्रणादुपरतं मंस्यन्ते त्वां महारथाः।येषां च त्वं बहुमतो भूत्वा यास्यसि लाघवम्॥

The great warriors will think you left the field out of fear. They thought highly of you. You will become small in their eyes.

Krishna names the specific humiliation.

Chapter 2 · Verse 36

अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून् वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः।निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्॥

Your enemies will say a great many things they should not, sneering at what you could have done. What is more painful than that?

The last turn of the screw.

Chapter 2 · Verse 37

हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम्।तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चयः॥

Killed, you reach the higher worlds. Victorious, you enjoy the earth. So get up, son of Kunti, and fight - having made up your mind.

The summing-up of the worldly case, and it is neatly built.

Chapter 2 · Verse 38

सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ।ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि॥

Treat pleasure and pain as the same. Treat gain and loss, victory and defeat, as the same. Then get ready and fight. You will take on no fault that way.

Here is the turn.

Chapter 2 · Verse 39

एषा तेऽभिहिता साङ्ख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां शृणु ।बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि॥

What you have heard so far is the analysis. Now hear it as practice - and with your mind joined to this, Arjuna, you will shake off the bondage of action itself.

Krishna names what he has been doing, and announces a change.

Chapter 2 · Verse 40

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते।स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्॥

On this path nothing you begin is wasted, and nothing goes backwards. Even a very little of it protects you from a very great fear.

One of the kindest verses in the book.

Chapter 2 · Verse 41

व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन।बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्॥

On this path the mind that has settled is one thing, and it points one way. The minds of people who have not settled branch endlessly.

One direction, or a thousand.

Chapter 2 · Verse 42

यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः।वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः॥

There are people who go in for flowery talk and take delight in the letter of the scriptures, Arjuna, saying there is nothing more to it than this.

Krishna starts criticising religion - specifically, a way of doing it.

Chapter 2 · Verse 43

कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्।क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति॥

Their hearts are set on what they want. They aim at heaven. What they offer leads to good birth and good results, and it is all elaborate ritual pointed at pleasure and power.

Krishna spells out what those people are actually after.

Chapter 2 · Verse 44

भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम्।व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिः समाधौ न विधीयते॥

For people held fast by pleasure and power, whose minds have been carried off by all that, no settled mind is possible.

The conclusion, and it is blunt.

Chapter 2 · Verse 45

त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन।निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्॥

The scriptures deal with the three strands of nature. Get free of those three, Arjuna. Let go of the opposites, stay in what is true, stop managing what you get and what you keep, and be your own.

The most radical instruction so far, and it is aimed at the tradition itself.

Chapter 2 · Verse 46

यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः संप्लुतोदके।तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः॥

A well is useful until the whole place floods. That is how much use all the scriptures are to someone who has actually seen.

One image, and it settles the argument.

Chapter 2 · Verse 47

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

Your claim is on the action alone, never on its fruits. Do not let results be your motive. And do not let that become an excuse for doing nothing.

Krishna draws a line through the middle of every task you will ever do.

Chapter 2 · Verse 48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय।सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥

Stand in yoga and do your work, Arjuna, letting go of the holding-on. Be the same whether it succeeds or fails. That evenness is what yoga means.

Krishna defines the word he has been using.

Chapter 2 · Verse 49

दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय।बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः॥

Work done for what it will fetch is far below work done from a settled mind. Take shelter in that mind, Arjuna. People who act for results are poor creatures.

A hard word at the end: kṛpaṇāḥ - misers, wretched, pitiable.

Chapter 2 · Verse 50

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते।तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्॥

A person joined to that mind sheds both the good he has done and the bad, right here in this life. So give yourself to yoga. Yoga is doing a thing well.

Two remarkable claims in one verse.

Chapter 2 · Verse 51

कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं त्यक्त्वा मनीषिणः।जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम्॥

Thoughtful people joined to that mind give up what their actions would have earned them. Released from the hold of birth, they reach a place where nothing hurts.

The reward for letting go of rewards.

Chapter 2 · Verse 52

यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति।तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च॥

When your mind has got clear of the thicket of confusion, you will stop caring about what you have heard and what you are still going to hear.

A strange promise.

Chapter 2 · Verse 53

श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला।समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि॥

When the scriptures have stopped pulling you about, and your mind stands still and unmoved, then you will have yoga.

The conclusion of the argument that began at verse 39.

Chapter 2 · Verse 54

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव।स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम्॥

Arjuna said: How would you describe someone whose understanding has settled, Krishna, someone steady in that state? How does a person like that speak? How do they sit? How do they walk?

Arjuna asks the best question in the chapter, and it is completely practical.

Chapter 2 · Verse 55

प्रजहाति यदा कामान् सर्वान् पार्थ मनोगतान्।आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते॥

Krishna said: When a person lets go of every craving that comes into the mind, and is content in himself with himself alone, then his understanding has settled.

The first answer, and it has two halves.

Chapter 2 · Verse 56

दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः।वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते॥

Not shaken by pain, not hungry for pleasure, past attachment and fear and anger - that is what a settled sage is called.

Four marks, in two pairs.

Chapter 2 · Verse 57

यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम्।नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥

Whoever is unattached everywhere, who neither welcomes the good when it comes nor recoils from the bad - his understanding is firmly set.

The evenness again, stated as behaviour.

Chapter 2 · Verse 58

यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः।इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥

When he can draw the senses back from what they reach for, the way a tortoise pulls in its limbs - then his understanding is firmly set.

The clearest image in the chapter.

Chapter 2 · Verse 59

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः।रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते॥

The objects fall away for someone who refuses them, but the taste for them stays. Even the taste goes, once he has seen what is higher.

The most honest verse in the chapter, and it corrects the one before it.

Chapter 2 · Verse 60

यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः।इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः॥

The senses are violent, Arjuna. They will carry off the mind by force - even the mind of a clear-sighted person who is working at it.

And now an even blunter admission.

Chapter 2 · Verse 61

तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त आसीत मत्परः।वशे हि यस्येन्द्रियाणि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥

Hold them all in check and sit with your mind on me. When a person's senses are under his own control, his understanding is firmly set.

The answer to the problem of verse 60, and it arrives from an unexpected direction.

Chapter 2 · Verse 62

ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते।सङ्गात् संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते॥

Dwell on a thing and you start to hold on to it. Out of holding on comes wanting. Out of wanting, when it is blocked, comes anger.

Krishna traces the whole thing back to its first move, and the first move is tiny.

Chapter 2 · Verse 63

क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः।स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति॥

From anger comes confusion. From confusion, memory fails. When memory goes, the understanding goes with it - and once that is gone, the person is lost.

The chain continues, and the last three steps are fast.

Chapter 2 · Verse 64

रागद्वेषवियुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन्।आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति॥

But a person who moves among things with his senses free of pulling and pushing, with himself in hand, comes into a settled clearness.

The way out, and it is not withdrawal.

Chapter 2 · Verse 65

प्रसादे सर्वदुःखानां हानिरस्योपजायते।प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याशु बुद्धिः पर्यवतिष्ठते॥

In that clearness all his sorrows fall away. For someone whose mind has become clear like that, the understanding settles very quickly.

The result, and it happens fast.

Chapter 2 · Verse 66

नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना।न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम्॥

Without that joining there is no understanding, and no steady attention either. Without attention there is no peace - and where is happiness for a person with no peace?

The same chain as verse 62, running the other way.

Chapter 2 · Verse 67

इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते।तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि॥

When the mind follows after the senses as they wander, it carries off a man's judgement - the way wind carries off a boat on the water.

The image that makes verse 66 concrete.

Chapter 2 · Verse 68

तस्माद्यस्य महाबाहो निगृहीतानि सर्वशः।इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥

So, Arjuna: the person whose senses are completely held back from what they reach for - his understanding is firmly set.

Krishna repeats the conclusion.

Chapter 2 · Verse 69

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

What is night for everyone else, the self-possessed person is awake in. What everyone else is awake in is night to the sage who sees.

The most beautiful line in the chapter, and it works by simple inversion.

Chapter 2 · Verse 70

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

Rivers pour into the ocean and the ocean stays where it is, filled and unmoved. Wants enter a person like that, and he finds peace - not the man who goes after what he wants.

The second great image, and it is the answer to the boat.

Chapter 2 · Verse 71

विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः।निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शांतिमधिगच्छति॥

The person who gives up wanting and goes about without craving, without "mine", without "I am the one" - that person comes to peace.

Three things dropped, and the last two are the deep ones.

Chapter 2 · Verse 72

एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति।स्थित्वाऽस्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति॥

This is what it is to stand in the infinite, Arjuna. Reach it and you are not confused again. Stand here even at the last hour, and you come to rest in the infinite.

The chapter ends with a promise, and it includes people who leave it very late.