Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 72 (BG 2.72) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 2.72 The renunciation of all desires means the abandonment of ego. A state free from ego is not an inactive, meaningless void. Where the delusion-born ego has ceased, there the Self—full of perfect knowledge—shines forth. To recognize the Self dwelling within one's own heart is to recognize the eternal Brahman that pervades all existence. When ego is destroyed, the experience of the eternal conscious Self is not had while remaining separate from it, but rather as a unity with it. Therefore, this direct realization is called the state of Brahman. A doubt may arise: after Self-realization, can we again be deluded and suffer the sorrows born of ego? The Lord dispels our fear by negating any such return to delusion. Moreover, Self-realization need not occur in youth alone. Even in old age or in the final moments of life, if a person recognizes their own eternal, self-evident nature, that experience is sufficient for the state of Brahman. The negation of the false and the establishment of the true—this is the path taught in the Upanishads for attaining the Self. Karma yoga is the practical expression of that knowledge which Vyasa has expounded in the Gita in his original style. To perform action while remaining equal in success and failure, with an unattached spirit, means to end the dominion of ego, and thereby unknowingly establish a higher truth there. Thus, the practice of karma yoga described in the Gita is not different from the contemplation of Vedanta. Yet Arjuna grasps only the literal meaning of the Lord's words, and a doubt arises in his mind, which he expresses at the beginning of the third chapter. Therefore, in the next chapter, Lord Sri Krishna discusses karma yoga in detail. Thus concludes the second chapter, named Sankhya Yoga, of the Sri Bhagavad Gita Upanishad—the science of Brahman and yoga—in the form of the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna. This chapter is not named Sankhya Yoga in the sense of Kapila Muni's Sankhya philosophy. Here the word sankhya is used based on its etymology, according to which sankhya means a reasoned discussion of a subject wherein, after presenting various arguments, we arrive at a wise conclusion. In this sense, this chapter, full of knowledge of truth, is called Sankhya Yoga in the traditional invocation. It is true that these traditional invocations are not found at the end of the Gita's chapters in the original Mahabharata. Commentators differ regarding who deserves credit for their composition. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that one or many scholars studied the subject of each chapter and gave it an appropriate name. These names are indeed useful for all students of the Gita. Sri Shankaracharya did not write a commentary on this matter.