Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 5 (BG 15.5) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

15.5 निर्मानमोहाः free from pride and delusion? जितसङ्गदोषाः victorious over the evil of attachment? अध्यात्मनित्याः dwelling constantly in the Self? विनिवृत्तकामाः (their) desires having completely turned away? द्वन्द्वैः from the pairs of opposites? विमुक्ताः freed? सुखदुःखसंज्ञैः known as pleasure and pain? गच्छन्ति reach? अमूढाः the undeluded? पदम् goal? अव्ययम् eternal? तत् That.Commentary Wherever there is pride there is stiff egoism. Absence of discrimination between the Real and the unreal is Moha. Perversion is Moha. Infatuation is Moha. Those who are free from likes and dislikes even when they attain pleasant or unpleasant objects have triumphed over the,evil of attachment. Kartritva Abhimana or the idea I am the doer is Sanga. Likes and dislikes are the Doshas or the evils. Heat and cold? pleasure and pain? honour and dishonour? censure and praise? etc.? are the pairs of opposites. Only those who have destroyed ignorance and who have attained the knowledge of the Self reach the eternal goal.Adhyatmanityah Ever engaged in the contemplation of the nature of Brahman or the Supreme Being.Vinivrittakamah All the desires vanish in toto without leaving any trace or taint behind. They who have reached this stage become Yatis or Sannyasins. In the fire of wisdom all desires are burnt. As the birds fly away from a tree which has caught fire? so do desires go away from him.Tat That (the goal) described above.

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

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Modern

# BG 15.5 — Commentary Translation In India, philosophy exists for the sake of practice, not merely for propagation. The perfection of this knowledge lies in its direct, lived experience. This is why our dharma texts and spiritual treatises contain an exhaustive discussion of life's ultimate aim and the means to attain it. To achieve any goal, certain essential qualifications are necessary—without them, one cannot reach that goal. Therefore, self-knowledge too can be fully attained only by those endowed with specific virtues. This verse points to those qualities. Earnest and courageous seekers should cultivate these virtues. Lord Sri Krishna assures us that those who perfect their spiritual practice will certainly attain the imperishable state. This alone is true fulfillment and the highest human endeavor. **Free from pride and delusion:** Pride means regarding oneself as worthy of worship. A mistaken overestimation of one's own importance is called pride or arrogance. Such a person burdens themselves with the unnecessary weight of maintaining their pride. Thereafter, they never find time to gain true knowledge or shed their defects and become refined. Similarly, delusion means lack of discernment. Failing to understand the world's objects, persons, and events as they truly are—this is delusion. Because of it, instead of facing life's real problems, we wander in our own imaginary world. Therefore, seekers of self-knowledge must entirely abandon these defects. **Those who have conquered the defect of attachment:** To identify with the body and indulge merely in sensory pleasures is to deprive oneself of life's higher possibilities—a self-deception. Such a deluded person becomes intensely attached to objects. The greater this attachment, the greater their uncontrolled, sense-directed tendencies. They become slaves to objects, squandering their powers while dancing to the rhythm of change and decay. How then can they attain self-realization? Therefore, those who have conquered this defect of attachment alone are worthy of liberation. **Established in spiritual contemplation:** The mind's nature is to cling to something. To withdraw the mind from the external world, one must anchor it in the supreme, divine nature of the atman. The mind can follow positive instruction, but it cannot remain in emptiness. In simple terms: one can be told what to do, but not what not to do. For example, if someone is told not to think of an egg upon waking, the very next morning they will think of it first. But if instead they are told to remember Lord Narayana, there is no opportunity for the egg to come to mind. Similarly, to overcome attachment to objects, one must continuously engage in self-inquiry. **Whose desires have been completely stilled:** As long as the belief persists that the external world is real and contains happiness, the renunciation of desires is impossible. Therefore, through reflection, we must firmly establish that the world is illusory and understand that happiness is the very nature of the atman, not a property of objects. Through such firm conviction, desires can be stilled. In the absence of cravings, the mind naturally becomes peaceful. **Those freed from the dualities of pleasure and pain:** A human being never perceives the world objectively. They divide the world's objects into the pleasant and the unpleasant. From this duality arise attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant. Then, if the pleasant is obtained, there is happiness; otherwise, suffering. Unfortunately, human likes and dislikes constantly change. What one considered a source of happiness yesterday, one finds painful today. Thus, one caught in the mind's waves can never be free from these dualities. Therefore, the seeker must entirely eliminate personal likes and dislikes. At the end of this verse, Lord Sri Krishna makes this decisive and optimistic declaration: such a qualified seeker, free from delusion, attains the imperishable state. The style of this declaration carries the firmness of a command. The atman bound by limitations is this unfortunate worldly person; the atman free from all limitations is the very embodiment of existence, consciousness, and bliss. This is direct realization. The distinctive nature of that imperishable state is described in the next verse.