Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 52

Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति ।
तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥

Transliteration

yadā te mohakalilaṃ buddhirvyatitariṣyati .
tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca ॥

Meaning

When your intellect has crossed beyond the mire of delusion, you will become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is yet to be heard.

Word meanings

यदा – when
ते – your
मोहकलिलम् – the mire of delusion
बुद्धिः – intellect
व्यतितरिष्यति – will cross beyond
तदा – then
गन्तासि – you will attain
निर्वेदम् – dispassion, indifference
श्रोतव्यस्य – towards what is yet to be heard
श्रुतस्य – towards what has been heard
च – and

Anvaya (word order)

यदा ते बुद्धिः मोहकलिलं व्यतितरिष्यति, तदा (त्वं) श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च निर्वेदं गन्तासि ।

Explanation

A natural question arises in Arjuna's mind: when will this state be reached? Krishna answers: when your intellect crosses the ‘moha-kalila’. ‘Kalila’ means thick mud or a swamp. Delusion is a swamp in which the intellect becomes stuck and loses its discernment — taking the body for the Self, drowning in the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

Arjuna is caught in exactly this swamp: attachment to his kinsmen and confusion about his duty. Krishna assures him that the swamp can be crossed, and that when the intellect reaches the other side, a new state will dawn.

That state is ‘nirveda’, dispassion — indifference towards ‘shrotavyasya shrutasya cha’, what is yet to be heard and what has already been heard. Shankara explains that once discernment arises, a person has no further use for what he has heard, or might hear, about rituals and their rewards. Descriptions of heaven, promises of pleasure, even the arguments of competing schools begin to seem pointless, because one has begun to experience the truth oneself.

This dispassion is not despair or a turning away from life; it is maturity. As a growing child naturally outgrows his toys, a mature intellect outgrows passing attractions. In modern life, flooded with information and opinions, the verse teaches that until the intellect is free from delusion, hearing more only creates more confusion.

Context

In 2.51 Krishna said that the wise who possess this understanding attain the sorrowless state. Here He says this happens when the intellect crosses delusion and reaches dispassion. In the next verse (2.53) He says that yoga is attained when the intellect, no longer shaken by conflicting views, rests steady in samadhi.

Life lesson

The swamp of delusion and possessiveness clouds our clear vision. When the intellect climbs out of it, passing attractions fade by themselves and the mind settles on what truly matters.

Key terms

Moha-kalila: the mire or swamp of delusion
Nirveda: dispassion, indifference to passing things
Shrotavya-shruta: what is yet to be heard and what has been heard