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Chapter 5 · Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness · 29 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Soul & knowledgeChapter 5 · Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
5.185.20

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 5.19

Knowledge and equal vision

Jīva · The soul

इहैव तैर्जित: सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मन: ।

निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्‍ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिता: ॥ १९ ॥

ihaiva tair jitaḥ sargo

yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ

nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma

tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

Translation

Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Freedom Through Equal Vision

  1. 1

    Those whose minds are steady in equal vision have conquered birth and death and are already flawless and situated in Brahman.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that this steadiness marks self-realization. Such liberated souls can enter the spiritual sky after death.

  3. 3

    Work toward a steady mind, free from attraction and hatred.

Key points from the purport

Such a self-realized soul has no attraction or hatred to matter, thus he is flawless and impartial like the Lord

Connected verses · 1

Texts 5.19 & 5.20

Symptoms of such a liberated soul are described further

Further reading

Liberation By Focussing On The Supersoul

One who, in knowledge, devotionally fixes his consciousness on the Supersoul and remains materially equipoised, attains liberation in the near future

Chapter 5, section IV: Liberation By Focussing On The Supersoul
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ihain this life
  2. evacertainly
  3. taiḥby them
  4. jitaḥconquered
  5. sargaḥbirth and death
  6. yeṣāmwhose
  7. sāmyein equanimity
  8. sthitamsituated
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: ātmā, jñāna.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 5.19 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?

Practice

Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.

5

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 5 ›
6

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 5.14Knowledge and equal visionBG 5.15Knowledge and equal visionBG 2.13The self endures bodily changeBG 4.34The humility of real inquiry
Live this todayEqual Vision Through True KnowledgeA practice from BG 5.18, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction