Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 54

Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अर्जुन उवाच ।
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca .
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava .
sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kimāsīta vrajeta kim ॥

Meaning

Arjuna said: O Keshava, what is the description of one of steady wisdom, who is established in samadhi? How does one whose mind is steady speak? How does he sit? How does he move about?

Word meanings

अर्जुनः उवाच – Arjuna said
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य – of one whose wisdom is steady
का – what
भाषा – description, defining marks
समाधिस्थस्य – of one established in samadhi
केशव – O Keshava (Krishna)
स्थितधीः – one of steady intellect
किम् – how, what
प्रभाषेत – speaks
आसीत – sits, abides
व्रजेत – walks, moves about

Anvaya (word order)

अर्जुनः उवाच — केशव, समाधिस्थस्य स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा (किं लक्षणम्)? स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत? किम् आसीत? किं व्रजेत?

Explanation

In the previous verse (2.53) Krishna told Arjuna that when his intellect, now bewildered by many conflicting teachings, comes to rest unmoving and steady in samadhi, he would attain yoga. Hearing this, Arjuna naturally wants to know more. What is that state like? How can such a person be recognised? With this question begins the celebrated ‘sthitaprajna’ section of the Gita, which runs to the end of the second chapter.

Arjuna asks many questions in the Gita, but this is the first one born not of grief but of genuine curiosity. In 2.7 he called himself a disciple and sought refuge; now he truly asks as a student eager to learn. The shift is significant — the teaching has begun to work on him. His question has two parts. The first, ‘ka bhasha’, asks for the definition: what is the inner nature of the man of steady wisdom? The second asks how he speaks, sits and walks — that is, how he behaves outwardly.

The question is a very practical one. Arjuna wants to know how such a sage lives in the world. Krishna's answer is striking: He does not list external rules for speaking, sitting or walking. Instead He describes an inner state — freedom from craving, evenness in pleasure and pain, mastery of the senses, deep peace. For outward conduct flows from the inner condition; when the inside is steady, speech, posture and movement become composed of their own accord.

Shankara observes that the marks described from here to the end of the chapter are the natural traits of the realised sage and, at the same time, the very disciplines to be practised by the seeker. What is effortless in the perfected one must be cultivated with effort by the aspirant. Ramanuja likewise sees these marks as successive steps leading to the direct vision of the Self. That is why many seekers, Mahatma Gandhi among them, recited these verses daily as a prayer.

The verse teaches that hearing an ideal is not enough; we must understand it concretely, as it appears in a human life. The sincere seeker asks exactly this: what does a person who lives this wisdom look like, so that I too may become such a person?

Context

In 2.53 Krishna said that yoga is attained when the intellect stands firm and unmoving in samadhi. Prompted by this, Arjuna here asks for the marks of the man of steady wisdom. From the next verse (2.55) to the end of the chapter (2.72) Krishna answers in detail.

Life lesson

When you hear a lofty ideal, ask what it looks like in everyday conduct. Sincere inquiry is the doorway to transformation, and inner steadiness is what makes outer behaviour graceful.

Key terms

Sthitaprajna: one whose wisdom is firmly established in the Self
Samadhistha: established in samadhi, absorbed in the Self
Bhasha: here, description or defining characteristics
Keshava: the one with beautiful hair; slayer of the demon Keshi — Krishna