Under the BanyanOld stories, illustrated and annotated
Krishna, seated small, teaches as Arjuna listens with his bow set down, while a large vision cloud shows a tortoise fully drawn into its shell on a pond islet as a mango, a lotus, a bell and swirling ribbons of craving drift past, beneath a soft rising light (Bhagavad Gita 2.57–60).
Krishna, seated small, teaches as Arjuna listens with his bow set down, while a large vision cloud shows a tortoise fully drawn into its shell on a pond islet as a mango, a lotus, a bell and swirling ribbons of craving drift past, beneath a soft rising light (Bhagavad Gita 2.57–60).

Kurukshetra Companion, the Bhagavad Gita four verses at a time · Chapter 2 so far

Like a tortoise drawing in its limbs

Chapter 2, verses 57–60. About 5 minutes.

Verse 107 of 700 in the full Gita. Chapter 2: 60 of 72.

Listen to this reading

Where we are

In the previous reading Arjuna asked what a person of steady wisdom looks like, and Krishna began answering: content within, unshaken by sorrow, not grasping at pleasure. Now he adds three marks, including the famous image of a tortoise pulling in its limbs, and one honest warning about how strong the senses are.

The verses

  1. 2.57

    Someone who doesn't cling to anything, who neither gloats when something good arrives nor turns bitter when something bad does, has wisdom that stands firm.

    Show the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.57

    यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम् ।
    नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥ ५७ ॥

    yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham
    nābhinandati na dveṣṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

    Say it

    yuh-hu sur-vuh-traa-nuh-bhis-nay-hus tut-tut praap-yuh shoo-bhaa-shoo-bhum
    naa-bhi-nun-duh-ti nuh dvay-shtee tuh-syuh pruj-nyaa pruh-tish-thi-taa

    Word by word

    yaḥ sarvatra anabhisnehaḥ
    one who is without clinging attachment anywhere
    tat tat prāpya śubha-aśubham
    whatever good or bad they meet
    na abhinandati na dveṣṭi
    neither rejoices nor hates
    tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
    their wisdom stands firm
  2. 2.58

    When a person can draw the senses back from their objects, the way a tortoise pulls its limbs fully into its shell, their wisdom stands firm.

    Show the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.58

    यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः ।
    इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥ ५८ ॥

    yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ
    indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

    Say it

    yuh-daa sum-huh-ruh-tay chaa-yum koor-mo ngaa-nee-vuh sur-vuh-shuh-hu
    in-dri-yaa-nee-n-dri-yaar-thay-bhyus tuh-syuh pruj-nyaa pruh-tish-thi-taa

    Word by word

    yadā saṃharate
    when they withdraw / draw in
    ayam
    this one (the sage)
    kūrmaḥ aṅgāni iva
    like a tortoise (withdraws) its limbs
    sarvaśaḥ
    completely, from all sides
    indriyāṇi indriya-arthebhyaḥ
    the senses from the objects of the senses
    tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
    their wisdom stands firm
  3. 2.59

    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.

    Show the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.59

    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
  4. 2.60

    Kaunteya, even a wise person who is genuinely trying can have their mind seized and dragged off by the senses, because they are turbulent and forceful.

    Show the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.60

    यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः ।
    इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः ॥ ६० ॥

    yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ
    indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ

    Say it

    yuh-tuh-to hyuh-pi kown-tay-yuh poo-roo-shuh-syuh vi-puh-shchi-tuh-hu
    in-dri-yaa-ni pruh-maa-thee-ni huh-run-ti pruh-suh-bhum muh-nuh-hu

    Word by word

    yatataḥ hi api
    even while striving / practising
    kaunteya
    son of Kuntī (Arjuna)
    puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ
    of a discerning, wise person
    indriyāṇi pramāthīni
    the turbulent, agitating senses
    haranti prasabham manaḥ
    forcibly carry away the mind

Context and commentary

Anabhisneha (2.57) is not coldness. Sneha means oil or affection, something that sticks, so this is freedom from sticky clinging. The tortoise (kūrma) in 2.58 can withdraw at will: the world is still there, but the mind is no longer hooked. Verse 2.59 separates outer abstinence (nirāhāra, not feeding) from the fading of rasa, the relish itself. Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja read param, "the highest", as the Self or the Supreme. Interpretation: 2.60 is a humility check; mastery is not automatic, even for the wise.

Today's lesson

Saying no is not yet being free

Krishna's steady person can pull attention back like a tortoise. But he is blunt: skipping the dessert only removes the dessert, and the craving can stay. White-knuckle restraint is a real step, not the finish line, and even careful people still get dragged off. Real freedom comes when something better fills the mind. What, then, keeps the senses in check? Krishna finishes the thought in the next reading (2.61–64).

Try this today

Pick one pull you expect, like reaching for your phone the moment a task gets dull. When it rises, do the tortoise move: put the phone face-down, look away and take three slow breaths. Notice whether the urge fades or still tugs, and name it silently before choosing what to do next.

Check the text and listen