What does a steady mind look like?

Where we are

In the previous reading Krishna called yoga skill in action and said clear understanding frees you from the pull of all you have heard. Now he finishes that thought: when a mind tossed by conflicting voices finally stands still, that is yoga. Arjuna then asks a very human question: what does such a person actually look like? Krishna begins the famous portrait of the sthitaprajña, the one whose wisdom stands firm.

The verses

1. 2.53

   Your understanding is pulled this way and that by everything you have been told. When it stops being tossed about and rests, unshaken, in deep steadiness, you will have reached yoga.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.53

   श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला ।
   समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि ॥ ५३ ॥

   Hear it

   śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā
   samādhāv acalā buddhis tadā yogam avāpsyasi

   Say it

   shroo-ti-vi-pruh-ti-pun-naa tay yuh-daa sthaa-syuh-ti nish-chuh-laa
   suh-maa-dhaa-vuh-chuh-laa bud-dhis-tuh-daa yo-guh-muh-vaap-syuh-si

   Word by word

   śruti-vipratipannā

   bewildered by what it has heard (conflicting teachings)

   te buddhiḥ

   your understanding

   yadā sthāsyati niścalā

   when it stands unmoving

   samādhau acalā

   unshaken, settled in deep steadiness

   tadā yogam avāpsyasi

   then you will reach yoga

2. 2.54

   arjuna uvāca

   Arjuna asks: Keśava, how would you describe someone whose wisdom stands firm and who rests in that steadiness? How do they speak, how do they sit, how do they move through the world?

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.54

   स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।
   स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥ ५४ ॥

   Hear it

   sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava
   sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim

   Say it

   sthi-tuh-pruj-nyus-yuh kaa bhaa-shaa suh-maa-dhi-sthus-yuh kay-shuh-vuh
   sthi-tuh-dhee-hee kim pruh-bhaa-shay-tuh ki-maa-see-tuh vruh-jay-tuh kim

   Word by word

   arjuna uvāca

   Arjuna said

   sthita-prajñasya

   of one whose wisdom stands firm

   kā bhāṣā

   what is the description, the mark

   samādhi-sthasya

   of one settled in deep steadiness

   keśava

   Keśava (Krishna)

   sthita-dhīḥ

   the steady-minded one

   kim prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim

   how would they speak, how sit, how walk?

3. 2.55

   śrībhagavān uvāca

   Krishna answers: Pārtha, when someone lets go of every craving that rises in the mind and is content within, needing nothing outside to feel whole, they are called one whose wisdom stands firm.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.55

   प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् ।
   आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥ ५५ ॥

   Hear it

   prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha manogatān
   ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñas tadocyate

   Say it

   pruh-juh-haa-ti yuh-daa kaa-maan sur-vaan paar-thuh muh-no-guh-taan
   aat-mun-yay-vaat-muh-naa toosh-tuh-hu sthi-tuh-pruj-nyus-tuh-do-chyuh-tay

   Word by word

   śrībhagavān uvāca

   the Blessed Lord said

   prajahāti

   lets go of completely

   kāmān sarvān manogatān

   all the cravings that arise in the mind

   pārtha

   son of Pṛthā (Arjuna)

   ātmani eva ātmanā tuṣṭaḥ

   content in the self, by the self alone

   sthita-prajñaḥ tadā ucyate

   then they are called one of steady wisdom

4. 2.56

   One whose mind is not thrown into turmoil when things go badly, who doesn't grab for more when things go well, and who has outgrown clinging, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.56

   दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः ।
   वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते ॥ ५६ ॥

   Hear it

   duḥkheṣv anudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ
   vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīr munir ucyate

   Say it

   duh-khay-shvuh-nood-vig-nuh-muh-naa-hu soo-khay-shoo vi-guh-tuh-spri-huh-hu
   vee-tuh-raa-guh-bhuh-yuh-kro-dhuh-hu sthi-tuh-dheer-moo-nir-oo-chyuh-tay

   Word by word

   duḥkheṣu anudvigna-manāḥ

   whose mind is not shaken in sorrows

   sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ

   who does not grasp after pleasures

   vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ

   free of clinging, fear and anger

   sthita-dhīḥ muniḥ ucyate

   is called a sage of steady mind

Context and commentary

Śruti-vipratipannā (2.53) means "scattered by what has been heard", echoing the reward-talk Krishna criticised in 2.42–44. Samādhi here is not a trance but a collected steadiness of the deciding mind. Arjuna's question in 2.54 is practical: he wants to see steadiness from the outside. Krishna answers from the inside out, describing first what such a person no longer needs. Interpretation: Śaṅkara and many later readers note that these marks are the natural state of the sage and the practice for the seeker.