Bhagavad Gita 5.21 Meaning: Bahyasparsheshvasaktatma

Bhagavad Gita 5.21

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ॥

Bahyasparsheshvasaktatma vindatyatmani yatsukhamSa brahmayogayuktatma sukhamakshayamashnute

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yatsukham |sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukhamakṣayamaśnute ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna says that one whose mind is not attached to outer contacts finds the happiness that is within the self. Joined to Brahman in yoga, he says, such a person enjoys a happiness that does not decay.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि जिसका मन बाहरी विषयों के स्पर्श में आसक्त नहीं, वह आत्मा में ही सुख पाता है। वे कहते हैं कि ब्रह्म से योग में जुड़ा ऐसा व्यक्ति अक्षय (कभी न घटने वाला) सुख भोगता है।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

बाह्यस्पर्शेषु bāhyasparśeṣu · to outer contacts (compound, locative plural) Dictionary: bāhya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 730, col. 3 “being outside”; sparśa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1269, col. 1 “touch, sense of touch”
असक्तात्मा asaktātmā · whose mind is unattached (compound, nominative singular) Dictionary: a-sakta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 118, col. 1 “free from ties”; ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self”
विन्दति vindati · finds (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 3. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 964, col. 3 “to find, discover, meet or fall in with, obtain, get, acquire”
आत्मनि ātmani · in the self (locative singular) Dictionary: ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self”
यत् yat · the (happiness) that (relative pronoun, accusative singular (neuter)) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
सुखम् sukham · happiness (accusative singular (neuter)) Dictionary: sukha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1221, col. 1 “ease, easiness, comfort, prosperity, pleasure, happiness”
सः saḥ · he (pronoun, nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “that, this”
ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा brahmayogayuktātmā · whose self is joined to Brahman in yoga (compound, nominative singular) Dictionary: brahman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 738, col. 1 “one self-existent impersonal Spirit, the one universal Soul”; yoga-yukta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 857, col. 1 “immersed in deep meditation, absorbed in Yoga”; ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self”
सुखम् sukham · happiness (accusative singular (neuter)) Dictionary: sukha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1221, col. 1 “ease, easiness, comfort, prosperity, pleasure, happiness”
अक्षयम् akṣayam · that does not decay (accusative singular (neuter)) Dictionary: a-kṣaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 3, col. 2 “exempt from decay, undecaying”
अश्नुते aśnute · gains, enjoys (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. aś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 112, col. 2 “to reach, come to, arrive at, get, gain, obtain”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षय्यमश्नुते ॥
Word The 1922 Madras printing reads: स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षय्यमश्नुते The 1922 base printing (leaf n91) reads अक्षय्यम्, a by-form with the same sense (the doubled य्य checked at high zoom). Under decision 14 the display follows the common wording अक्षयम्, printed by Gita Press (p. 92) and read in sanskritdocuments.org, GRETIL and Sanskrit Wikisource.

Bhagavad Gita 5.21: meaning and translation

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