Chapter 6, Verse 21
सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद् बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम् | वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वतः ||६-२१||
sukhamātyantikaṃ yattad buddhigrāhyamatīndriyam . vetti yatra na caivāyaṃ sthitaścalati tattvataḥ ||6-21||
Meaning
6.21 When he (the Yogi) feels that Infinite Bliss which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses, and established wherein he never moves from the Reality.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna continues describing the state of union by pointing to the kind of joy it holds. This is sukham atyantikam — infinite, absolute bliss — utterly unlike the fleeting pleasures of the world. Two qualities distinguish it: it is buddhi-grahyam, apprehended by the refined intellect rather than the senses, and atindriyam, entirely beyond sensory experience. The senses, which deliver all worldly delight, cannot touch this joy at all.
This matters profoundly. Every sense-pleasure depends on an outer object, fades with contact, and leaves a residue of craving. The bliss of the Self depends on nothing, fades for nothing, and leaves no lack. Once a person tastes it and becomes sthita — established in it — he 'never moves from the Reality'. He has found the unshakable ground. Worldly joys could always be lost; this one cannot, because it is not given by anything outside and so cannot be taken away.
💡 Key Takeaway
The deepest joy is grasped within, beyond the senses — and once found, it can never be lost or shaken.
Related Verses
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः | युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ||६-८||
jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ . yukta ityucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ ||6-8||
6.8 The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonied (i.e., is said to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi).
यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते | निःस्पृहः सर्वकामेभ्यो युक्त इत्युच्यते तदा ||६-१८||
yadā viniyataṃ cittamātmanyevāvatiṣṭhate . niḥspṛhaḥ sarvakāmebhyo yukta ityucyate tadā ||6-18||
6.18 When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for all the objects of desires, then it is said, 'He is united'.
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता | योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ||६-१९||
yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā . yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogamātmanaḥ ||6-19||
6.19 As a lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker to such is compared the Yogi of controlled mind, practising Yoga in the Self (or absorbed in the Yoga of the Self).