Verse 2.70

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.70:

आपूर्यमाणम् अचल-प्रतिष्ठं समुद्रम् आपः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।
तद्वत् कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिम् आप्नोति न काम-कामी ॥ ७० ॥

āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat |
tadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī || 70 ||

āpūryamāṇam–completely full in all directions; acala-pratiṣṭham–fixed and unmoved; samudram–the ocean; āpaḥ–the waters (of many rivers); praviśanti–enter; yadvat–just as; tadvat–similarly; kāmāḥ–the agitations of the senses; yam–whom (a person of fixed intelligence); praviśanti–they enter; sarve–all; saḥ–he; śāntim–peace; āpnoti–attains; na–not; kāma-kāmī–he who desires to fulfill his own desires.

Just as countless rivers flow into the ocean, which is full and always still, without causing any disturbance to it, similarly, various desires flow into the mind of one who is sthita-prajña, yet his equilibrium is never disturbed. Such persons alone can attain peace, not those who strive always to fulfil their desires.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Nirleptā, or remaining unattached to sense objects, indicates that one does not become disturbed even after coming in contact with a sense object. Śrī Bhagavān explains this idea by speaking the verse beginning with āpūryamāṇam. Although different rivers pour so much water into the ocean during the rainy season, they cannot cause it to overflow. Acala-pratiṣṭham means ‘whose boundary is not crossed’. Similarly, various sense objects also present themselves as enjoyable and desirable to one who is fixed in spiritual intelligence. But, just as water pouring into or flowing out of the ocean makes no difference to the ocean, similarly, those who remain unaffected, both while enjoying sense objects and when bereft of them, are called sthita-prajña. Only they attain peace, that is, knowledge.