Less mine and less me creates more peace.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः |निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ||२-७१||
vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvānpumāṃścarati niḥspṛhaḥ . nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sa śāntimadhigacchati ||2-71||
Use this verse when ego or possessiveness disturbs you.
Meaning
One who abandons all selfish desires, moves without craving, and is free from possessiveness and ego attains peace.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Peace comes when craving, possessiveness, and ego loosen.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna gives a simple but profound formula for peace: reduce desire, possessiveness, and ego. Nirmama means not making everything mine. Nirahankara means not making everything about me. In modern life, much suffering arises from my title, my image, my control, my success, my hurt. Peace grows when life becomes less self-centered and more dharma-centered.
Read the traditional commentary
This verse names the final fruit of the entire chapter's teaching: peace (śānti). Krishna has described the steady-minded sage (sthitaprajña) at length, and here he distills the whole portrait into one luminous line. The person who attains peace is the one who has let go of three things in particular — desire (kāma), the sense of 'mine' (nirmama), and egoism (nirahaṅkāra).
These three are the deepest roots of all agitation. Craving keeps the mind reaching outward; 'mine' binds us to possessions and people as extensions of ourselves; and the ego ('I am the doer, this is happening to me') makes every gain and loss personal.
Notice the word 'carati' — such a person still 'moves about,' still acts and lives fully in the world. This is not withdrawal or renunciation of activity. It is inner freedom amid outer engagement.
Having dropped the three roots of disturbance, the sage walks through life 'niḥspṛha' — without the desperate longing that makes peace impossible. For us, the verse is a practical map: peace is not earned by acquiring more, but by releasing the grip of wanting, owning, and self-importance.
In daily life
Practice doing one good action without needing credit.
A team leader may let someone else receive praise without feeling diminished.
Try this today
Do one helpful action anonymously or without announcing it.
I release possessiveness and ego into peace.Reflect
Where do I make things too much about me?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘निरहङ्कारः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on peace, in other chapters
- Verse 6.7Inner peace is steady when praise and blame, comfort and discomfort, no longer disturb the calm at your center.
- Verse 12.15The true devotee neither disturbs others nor is disturbed by them, free from elation, anger, fear, and anxiety.
- Verse 15.5Inner freedom from pride, craving, and the swing of pleasure and pain leads to the imperishable state.
- Verse 5.19Steady your mind in equanimity and you conquer birth and death here and now — for an even mind already rests in Brahman.
Swipe left for 2.72 · The goal is steady freedom rooted in Brahman.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 2.71
Who says Bhagavad Gita 2.71, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 2.71, in Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga (Sankhya Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 2.71 mean?
One who abandons all selfish desires, moves without craving, and is free from possessiveness and ego attains peace. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 2.71 for daily life?
Practice doing one good action without needing credit. A team leader may let someone else receive praise without feeling diminished.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 2.71 mean?
विहाय — abandoning, casting off; कामान् — desires; यः सर्वान् — one who, all of them; पुमान् — a person, a man; चरति — moves about, lives, acts.
Where does verse 2.71 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 71 of 72 in Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga. The next verse is 2.72.