Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 51 (BG 18.51) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

18.51 बुद्ध्या with an intellect? विशुद्धया pure? युक्तः endowed? धृत्या by firmness? आत्मानम् the self? नियम्य controlling? च and? शब्दादीन् sound and other? विषयान् senseobjects? त्यक्त्वा relinishing? रागद्वेषौ attraction and hatred? व्युदस्य abandoning? च and.Commentary The lower self should be controlled with firmness by the Self of pure intellect. The turbulent senses and the mind should be subdued with the help of the pure intellect or reason. Pure reason is a great power. Whenever the senses raise their heads and hiss? they should be hammered by the powerful rod of pure intellect or reason. Reason is the faculty of determination.Pure intellect The intellect that is free from lust? anger? greed? pride? doubt? misconception? etc. It is like a clear mirror. A pure intellect is Brahman Itself. It can be easily merged in Brahman. When the pure intellect is merged in Brahman? the reflected intelligence? Chidabhasa or Jiva? is also absorbed in Brahman. The Jiva becomes identical with Brahman? just as the ether in the pot becomes one with the universal ether when the pot is broken.The self The aggregate of the body and the senses.The aspirant withdraws the senses from their respective objects again and again through the repeated practice of Pratyahara (abstraction) and Dama (selfrestraint). Gradually the senses are fixed in the Self. Their outgoing tendencies are totally curbed. The aspirant attains supreme control of the senses by constant meditation? by the practice of dispassion he coners Raga (attachment)? and through the practice of pure love or cosmic love or divine Preme he coners hatred.He abandons all luxuries. He keeps only those objects which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. He has neither attachment nor hatred even for those objects which are necessary for that purpose.

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Modern

One who is endowed with a purified intellect—that is, one whose inner faculty is cleansed of all impurities. The inner faculty is said to be pure when it is freed from the desires for acquisition and enjoyment of sense objects. By purified intellect is also meant a sattvic intellect, one aligned with the quality of purity and harmony. During the practice of meditation, the seeker's inner harmony and peace can be disrupted by two causes: (1) the grasping of sense objects through the senses, or (2) the remembrance by the mind of previously experienced pleasures—that is, the memory of past enjoyments. The seeker should restrain the mind through sattvic resolve; that is, during meditation, one should not recall the enjoyments of sense objects. Similarly, the renunciation of sound, touch, form, taste, and smell means this: even if the senses do grasp an object, one should not begin to contemplate upon it. This becomes possible only when the seeker is freed from personal attachments and aversions. To accomplish all of this, one must build a fortress of knowledge around the mind. Through knowledge alone can the mind be brought under one's control. The restraint of mind and the restraint of the senses are respectively called shama and dama. Regarding the seeker engaged in the practice of meditation, it is further said: