The ocean that rivers cannot fill

Where we are

Since 2.54 Krishna has been answering Arjuna's question: what does a person of steady wisdom look like? In the previous reading he compared a wandering mind to a boat blown off course. Now, in the last four verses of Chapter 2, he finishes the portrait with two images, night and day turned around and an ocean that rivers cannot fill, and gives this state a name.

The verses

1. 2.69

   What is night for everyone else is the time when the self-disciplined person is wide awake. And the things everyone else is wide awake to are night for the sage who truly sees.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.69

   या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।
   यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥

   Hear it

   yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī
   yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ

   Say it

   yaa ni-shaa sur-vuh-bhoo-taa-naam tuh-syaam jaa-gur-ti sum-yuh-mee
   yuh-syaam jaa-gruh-ti bhoo-taa-ni saa ni-shaa push-yuh-to moo-nay

   Word by word

   yā niśā sarva-bhūtānām

   what is night for all beings

   tasyām jāgarti saṃyamī

   in that, the self-disciplined one is awake

   yasyām jāgrati bhūtāni

   that in which beings are awake

   sā niśā

   that is night

   paśyataḥ muneḥ

   for the sage who sees

2. 2.70

   Rivers keep pouring into the ocean, yet it stays full and unmoved, settled in its own depth. Likewise, the person into whom every desire flows without stirring them up finds peace. The one who keeps chasing desires does not.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.70

   आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं
   समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।
   तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
   स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥ ७० ॥

   Hear it

   āpūryamāṇam acalapratiṣṭhaṃ / samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat
   tadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve / sa śāntim āpnoti na kāmakāmī

   Say it

   aa-poor-yuh-maa-num uh-chuh-luh-pruh-tish-thum
   suh-moo-druh-maa-puh pruh-vi-shun-ti yud-vut
   tud-vut kaa-maa yum pruh-vi-shun-ti sur-vay
   suh shaan-ti-maap-no-ti nuh kaa-muh-kaa-mee

   Word by word

   āpūryamāṇam

   being filled, always full

   acala-pratiṣṭham

   unmoving, firmly settled

   samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat

   just as waters enter the ocean

   tadvat kāmāḥ yam praviśanti sarve

   so the one whom all desires enter

   saḥ śāntim āpnoti

   that person attains peace

   na kāma-kāmī

   not one who desires desires

3. 2.71

   Someone who lets go of all desires and moves through life without craving, without the feeling that things are 'mine', and without the self-importance of 'I', reaches peace.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.71

   विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः ।
   निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ॥ ७१ ॥

   Hear it

   vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān pumāṃś carati niḥspṛhaḥ
   nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ sa śāntim adhigacchati

   Say it

   vi-haa-yuh kaa-maan yuh sur-vaan poo-maansh chuh-ruh-ti nih-spri-huh
   nir-muh-mo ni-ruh-hun-kaa-ruh suh shaan-ti-mud-hi-guch-chuh-ti

   Word by word

   vihāya kāmān sarvān

   letting go of all desires

   yaḥ pumān carati

   the person who moves through life

   niḥspṛhaḥ

   free of craving

   nirmamaḥ

   without 'this is mine'

   nirahaṃkāraḥ

   without ego, the sense of 'I am the doer'

   saḥ śāntim adhigacchati

   that person reaches peace

4. 2.72

   This, Arjuna, is the brāhmī state, a way of being rooted in Brahman. Whoever reaches it is not confused again. Abiding in it even at death, they reach brahma-nirvāṇa, the stillness of Brahman.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.72

   एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति ।
   स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति ॥ ७२ ॥

   Hear it

   eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati
   sthitvāsyām antakāle 'pi brahmanirvāṇam ṛcchati

   Say it

   ay-shaa braah-mee sthi-tih paar-thuh nai-naam praap-yuh vi-mooh-yuh-ti
   sthit-vaa-syaam un-tuh-kaa-lay-pi bruh-muh-nir-vaa-num rich-chuh-ti

   Word by word

   eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ

   this is the state rooted in Brahman

   pārtha

   O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna)

   na enām prāpya vimuhyati

   having reached it, one is no longer confused

   sthitvā asyām

   abiding in it

   anta-kāle api

   even at the hour of death

   brahma-nirvāṇam ṛcchati

   one reaches brahma-nirvāṇa, the stillness of Brahman

Context and commentary

These verses close Chapter 2 and Krishna's answer about the sthita-prajña. Verse 2.69 is a paradox: Śaṅkara reads the 'night' as the highest reality that most people sleep through, while the world everyone is busy with is dark to the sage; others read it simply as opposite priorities. In 2.70 the key word is kāma-kāmī, 'one who desires desires': wants arriving is not the problem, chasing each one is. Brahma-nirvāṇa, the Gita's first 'nirvāṇa' (a stilling), means liberation for Advaita readers and reaching the pure self on the way to the Lord for Rāmānuja.