Chapter 18Verse 53 of 78

Bhagavad Gita 18.53

अहङ्कारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं परिग्रहम् । विमुच्य निर्ममः शान्तो ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥

ahaṅkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ parigraham / vimucya nirmamaḥ śānto brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

Translation

Letting go of ego, force, pride, desire, anger, possession, free of mine-ness and at peace, he is fit for becoming Brahman.

Third and final condition cluster. Six releases. Ahankara, the I-claim. Bala, force used to dominate. Darpa, the puffed pride of position. Kama, the chronic want. Krodha, the reactive anger when kama is blocked. Parigraha, accumulating possessions beyond need. Drop those six, and two qualities arrive on their own. Nirmama, no mine-ness. Shanta, the inward peace that has nothing to defend. Such a one is brahma-bhuyaya kalpate, fit for becoming Brahman. This is the Gita's culminating formula for liberation. Notice the order. Six specific releases come first; the peace and the becoming follow. The work is not the becoming. The work is the releases. The becoming is the natural ripening.

Reflection

Which of ego, force, pride, desire, anger, possession are you least willing to release right now?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eighteen

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