Chapter 2Verse 70 of 72

Bhagavad Gita 2.70

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् । तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥

āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī ||

Translation

As the waters enter the ocean, which, ever-filled, remains unmoved, so the one in whom all desires enter attains peace, not one who lusts after desires.

The ocean. Acala-pratiṣṭham. Unmoved in its standing. The rivers run into it, fully, ceaselessly; the ocean does not rise to meet them or recede from them. Tadvat. In that same way. Desires arrive in the sthita-prajna and find a surface that neither absorbs them as need nor pushes them off as threat. Na kāma-kāmī. Not the desirer of desires. The verse distinguishes between having desires (which the ocean does) and being a desirer (which the lake-mind is). Peace comes to the first; never to the second.

Reflection

Which desire arrived in you this week that, if it had found an ocean, would have settled?

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