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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 ›
Mind & yogaChapter 5 · Action in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 5.20

Sense control, peace and inner happiness

Jīva · The soul

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।

स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्‍ब्रह्मणि स्थित: ॥ २० ॥

na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya

nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam

sthira-buddhir asammūḍho

brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

Translation

A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is already situated in transcendence.

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

Steady in Self-Realization

  1. 1

    One who neither rejoices at pleasant gains nor laments over unpleasant events, remains unconfused, and knows God is already in transcendence.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that the true self is not the body but a fragmental part of the Supreme Lord. This steady understanding is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

  3. 3

    When facing bodily gains or losses, remember that you are the soul, not the temporary body.

Key points from the purport

Symptoms of self-realized soul

Being without desire or hatred, one’s intelligence does not rejoice or lament

One remains sharp in intelligence and

‘Unbewildered’ – Fixed in the self

a

Text 5.20 — 5.21 describes the symptoms of a self realized soul (5.20 – 5.21)

b

Foremost symptom — no illusion of false bodily identification

This symptom is the basis of not rejoicing or lamenting for material dualities

c

“Sthira-Buddhih” — Steadiness of mind – Not rejoice/lament for bodily relations or achievements:

Based on knowledge that he is not this body but fragmental portion of Supreme Personality of Godhead

d

Unbewildered — Not misidentify Body as soul/nor take body as permanent. Importance of equanimity – at such a stage one is considered to have conquered material conditions specifically birth and death

Thus there is no rebirth but one can enter into the spiritual sky b) Lord and living entity are “flawless” – How? Because

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
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. nanever
  2. prahṛṣyetrejoices
  3. priyamthe pleasant
  4. prāpyaachieving
  5. nadoes not
  6. udvijetbecome agitated
  7. prāpyaobtaining
  8. caalso
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: manas, indriya, yoga.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 5.20 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to mind & yoga?

Practice

Sit quietly for ten minutes and gently return the mind.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

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.