Chapter 2, Verse 55
श्रीभगवानुवाच | प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् | आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥५५॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca | prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha manogatān | ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate ||55||
Meaning
The Supreme Lord said: O Partha, when a person gives up all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, then he is said to be of steady wisdom.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
With this verse begins the famous sthitaprajna section — Krishna's description of the person of steady wisdom (sthita-prajna). This portrait is one of the most compelling ideals of human development in all world literature.
A sthitaprajna is someone whose contentment does not depend on external circumstances. They are 'satisfied in the Self by the Self' — they have found within themselves a source of contentment that is self-sufficient, that does not require specific outcomes, people, or experiences to feel whole.
This is the opposite of how most of us live. We are externally satisfied — contingently content, dependent on things going our way. The sthitaprajna's happiness is unconditional because it is rooted in the Self, which is unconditional.
This is not suppression of desire — it is transcendence of it. A sthitaprajna doesn't forcefully push away desires; the desires naturally lose their grip as the person discovers a satisfaction within that exceeds anything the outer world can provide.
For us, verse 55 is both a description and an aspiration. We may not be there yet, but we can begin practicing: noticing when we are seeking our contentment outside, gently redirecting toward inner stillness, asking what it would mean to need less from outside in order to feel okay.
💡 Key Takeaway
True wisdom begins with inner contentment — not needing things to go a certain way in order to feel whole.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे | गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥११॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca | aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṃ prajñāvādāṃś ca bhāṣase | gatāsūn agatāsūṃś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ ||11||
The Blessed Lord said: You are grieving for those who should not be grieved for, yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः । वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः ॥
yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ | veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ ||
The undiscerning, O Arjuna, who are attached to the flowery language of the Vedas and who declare that there is nothing higher than the rituals they prescribe — they speak ornately but without wisdom. Their language is beautiful like flowers, but flowers that produce no fruit of genuine spiritual understanding.
दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय । बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः ॥
dūreṇa hy avaraṃ karma buddhi-yogād dhanañjaya buddhau śaraṇam anviccha kṛpaṇāḥ phala-hetavaḥ
O Dhananjaya, keep all inferior works far away from the yoga of intelligence. Seek refuge in divine intelligence. Those who are motivated by the fruits of their action are misers.