Chapter 2, Verse 70
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् | तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥७०॥
āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī ||70||
Meaning
A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires — that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still — can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
This verse contains one of the Gita's most beautiful metaphors: the ocean that receives all rivers without being disturbed. The ocean is full and still, not because no water enters it, but because its capacity is so vast that any amount of water can enter without changing its fundamental nature.
The sthitaprajna is like this ocean. Desires arise — as they do for all beings. Experiences come. People and circumstances make demands. But the person of steady wisdom receives all of this without being destabilized, because their sense of self and contentment is not dependent on whether desires are fulfilled.
The counterpoint is 'na kama-kami' — not the one who strives to satisfy desires. The person running after desires can never find peace, because desires are infinite. One satisfied desire merely activates or reveals the next. The pursuit of peace through desire-satisfaction is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it — technically possible for a moment, but ultimately futile as a strategy.
This is not a call to suppress desires or become inert. The ocean doesn't fight the rivers — it receives them, and continues being what it is. The wisdom is in developing such a stable center that the arising of desires no longer threatens your peace. You can be with a desire, notice it, and not be controlled by it.
💡 Key Takeaway
Peace comes not from satisfying all desires but from developing such inner fullness that desires can arise and pass without disturbing your center.
Related Verses
न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद् यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम् । अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धं राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम् ॥२-८॥
na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād yac chokam ucchoṣaṇam indriyāṇām | avāpya bhūmāv asapatnam ṛddhaṃ rājyaṃ surāṇām api cādhipatyam ||2-8||
I do not see what will remove this grief which is drying up my senses, even if I were to obtain an unrivaled and prosperous kingdom on earth or even lordship over the gods.
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ॥२-१०॥
tam uvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasann iva bhārata | senayor ubhayor madhye viṣīdantam idaṃ vacaḥ ||2-10||
O descendant of Bharata, Hrishikesha, smiling gently, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna between the two armies.
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः । न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥२-१२॥
na tv evāhaṃ jātu nāsaṃ na tvaṃ neme janādhipāḥ | na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param ||2-12||
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.