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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
5.225.24

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 5.23

Sense control, peace and inner happiness

Jīva · The soul

शक्न‍ोतीहैव य: सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।

कामक्रोधोद्भ‍वं वेगं स युक्त: स सुखी नर: ॥ २३ ॥

śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ

prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt

kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ

sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ

Translation

Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world.

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

Controlling Desire and Anger

  1. 1

    One who tolerates sense urges and controls desire and anger before leaving this body is well situated and happy.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that unfulfilled material desires cause anger. Controlling the senses and mind supports steady progress in self-realization.

  3. 3

    Practice controlling the urges of speech, mind, and senses, and work hard to check desire and anger.

Key points from the purport

Tolerate the urges till the end of life — One should patiently tolerate the “urges of material senses” and the “forces of desire and anger” before giving up this present body

Connected verses · 2

Texts 5.22 & 5.23

The result of tolerating sense desires and not succumbing to their pushings is explained below

Texts 5.23 & 5.24

The pleasure of spiritual realization is the topic of the next verse

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. śaknotiis able
  2. iha evain the present body
  3. yaḥone who
  4. soḍhumto tolerate
  5. prākbefore
  6. śarīrathe body
  7. vimokṣaṇātgiving up
  8. kāmadesire
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 5.23 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

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 5.20Sense control, peace and inner happinessBG 5.21Sense control, peace and inner happinessBG 6.35Practice and detachment
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.

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