BHAGAVAD GEETA: 94 - Swami Advayananda.

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BHAGAVAD GEETA
Chapter - 2
Discourse – 2 (72 Slogas)
“Yoga of the SUPREME SELF”
Sri Veda Vyasaji

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Friday 08, November 2024, 06:10.
Discourse 2 | Yoga of the Supreme Self  
2.13   THE SADHANA FOR PERFECTION 
(Slogas - 68-72, 5 No.) 
Slogam -70: The “Waters of the Ocean” Simile 
Post - 94.

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Slogam -70: The “Waters of the Ocean” Simile 

1

Aapooryamaanam =Filled from all sides,  

achala-pratishtham = yet remaining unmoved  

2 

samudram aapah = is the ocean when the waters (rivers)  

pravishanti yadvat; = flow or enter into it. Just as this is true, 

3 

tadvat kaamaah yam = so also, he in whom all desires

pra-vishanti sarve = enter from all sides (and who yet remains unmoved by them), 

4 

sah shaantim aapnoti = he, the Sage, is “filled” with Supreme Peace,  

na kaama-kaami. = not the one who is a “desirer of desires”. 

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The “Night and Day” simile of verse 69 brings out the stark contrast between the 

materialistic life and the spiritual life. The “Ocean” simile does that and in addition draws 

our attention to the Goal of the Sthitaprajna, revealing the all-fullness of the Divine, its 

capacity to absorb changes into its Changeless bosom. Both similes leave a very colourful 

picture in our mind’s eye of the steady-minded sage whom we know as the Sthitaprajna. 

1

 Aapooryamaanam: From the Vedantic view, the ocean symbolizes “fullness to the 

brim”. Even though it is so full, yet it goes on accepting whatever comes into it from all sides 

without overflowing. For Achala, “changelessness”, there could not be a better symbol! 

2

 Samudra: The “ocean” represents the steady mind of the sage which remains 

unmoved no matter what enters into it. The ocean is very pleasant to the sight; it is a 

picture of tranquillity. In fact, the word Samudra literally means “giving one joy”. The word 

also means “containing rare treasures”, like the jewels of Peace and tranquillity. 

3

 The rivers empty themselves into the ocean continuously from all sides. This 

represents the flow of desires that approach the sage to tempt him. Desires have as much 

effect on a sage as do rivers on entering the ocean – that is, none at all!  

The rivers may be clean or polluted, the ocean receives them all without complaint. 

So also, experiences may be pleasant or unpleasant in the eyes of worldly people, but they 

are received equally by the sage. Sometimes it is honour, sometimes dishonour; sometimes 

it is praise, at other times vilification. All these are received with equanimity by the mind of 

the sage. He is unmoved by their entry into his life. 

4

 Shaantim: We said earlier, in slogas 64-65, that this word is reserved for the 

Supreme Peace “that passeth all understanding”. For the Sthitaprajnya, the word Shaanti is 

more befitting than Prasaada, which is used for the interim stage when the mind gains 

tranquillity. We are now speaking of the person who has not only controlled his senses but 

gone well past it all the way to Realisation. He has earned the passport to enter the domain 

of the Brahmic statethat is to be described in the final verse of this chapter. 

Kaama-Kaami: the “desirer of desires”; this is an emphatic way of describing those 

who are trapped in the quicksands of desire from which they cannot extricate themselves. 

Entering into an ocean is directly opposite to entering into quicksand. 

*****

Next

Slogam- 71: The Final Prize – A “Peaceful” Mind 

Continued

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