Under the BanyanOld stories, illustrated and annotated

Bhagavad Gita 2.59

Chapter 2, verse 59

Meaning

Stop feeding on sense-objects and the objects may leave you alone, but the taste for them stays. Even that lingering taste fades only once something higher has been seen.

The Sanskrit

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः ।
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥ ५९ ॥

viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasavarjaṃ raso 'py asya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

Say it

vi-shuh-yaa vi-ni-vur-tun-tay nir-aa-haa-ruh-syuh day-hi-nuh-hu
ruh-suh-vur-jum ruh-so pyuh-syuh puh-rum drish-tvaa ni-vur-tuh-tay

Word by word

viṣayāḥ vinivartante
the sense-objects turn away / fall off
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
for the embodied one who refrains from feeding on them
rasa-varjam
except for the taste (the craving)
rasaḥ api asya
even that taste, for this one
param dṛṣṭvā nivartate
turns away after seeing the highest
Read it in context: verses 2.57–60Like a tortoise drawing in its limbsWith the story so far, commentary, and today's lesson: Saying no is not yet being free

Another translation and audio recitation: verse 2.59 on holy-bhagavad-gita.org.