Sastra Caksusa

seeing through the eyes of scriptures

TEXT 71

vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumams carati nihsprhah nirmamo nirahankarah sa santim adhigacchati

SYNONYMS

vihaya--after giving up; kaman--all material desires for sense gratification; yah--the person; sarvan--all; puman--a person; carati--lives; nihsprhah--desireless; nirmamah--without a sense of proprietorship; nirahankarah--without false ego; sah--all; santim--perfect peace; adhigacchati--attains.

TRANSLATION

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego--he alone can attain real peace.

PURPORT

To become desireless means not to desire anything for sense gratification. In other words, desire for becoming Krsna conscious is actually desirelessness. To understand one's actual position as the eternal servitor of Krsna, without falsely claiming this material body to be oneself and without falsely claiming proprietorship over anything in the world, is the perfect stage of Krsna consciousness. One who is situated in this perfect stage knows that because Krsna is the proprietor of everything, therefore everything must be used for the satisfaction of Krsna. Arjuna did not want to fight for his own sense satisfaction, but when he became fully Krsna conscious he fought because Krsna wanted him to fight. For himself there was no desire to fight, but for Krsna the same Arjuna fought to his best ability. Desire for the satisfaction of Krsna is really desirelessness; it is not an artificial attempt to abolish desires. The living entity cannot be desireless or senseless, but he does have to change the quality of the desires. A materially desireless person certainly knows that everything belongs to Krsna (isavasyam idam sarvam), and therefore he does not falsely claim proprietorship over anything. This transcendental knowledge is based on self-realization--namely, knowing perfectly well that every living entity is the eternal part and parcel of Krsna in spiritual identity, and therefore the eternal position of the living entity is never on the level of Krsna or greater than Him. This understanding of Krsna consciousness is the basic principle of real peace.

 from Prabhupadas lecture:

Tamala Krsna: 71: "A person who has given up all desires for sense  gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of  proprietorship and is devoid of false ego, he alone can attain real  peace."

Prabhupada: Yes. So the person  who has given up all desire for sense gratification. We haven't got to kill our  desire. How you can kill? Desire is constant companion of a living entity. That  is the living symptom. Because I am living entity, you are living entity, you  have got desire, I have got desire. Not this table. The table has no life;  therefore it has no desire. The table cannot say that "I am standing here for so  many months. Please move me to another place." No. Because it has no desire. But  if I am sitting here for three hours, oh, I'll say, "Oh, I got tired. Please  remove me from... Please get me another place." So desire must be there because  we are living. We have to change the engagement of desires. If we engage our  desires for sense gratification, that is material. But if we engage our desires  for acting on behalf of Krsna, that is our, we're free from all desires. This is  the criterion.
Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Visnuswami
Sridhara Swami's Commentary

Here it is clearly stated that one who has internally renounced the desire for sense objects equipoise by the association of those coming on their own accord and not hankering for those that are not appearing on their own accord, free from false ego of thinking doership and devoid of any conception of proprietorship of anything, accepts whatever comes as a result of past actions, attains peace of mind.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Madhvacarya
Madhvacarya's Commentary

Lord Krishna clarifies this theme in this verse. One who experiences objects of the senses without one being attached to them or having the conceptions of this is mine or I am this body, such a one verily situated in a state of perfect peace and they alone attain liberation. This is the meaning.

Now begins the summation.

With the determination of renouncing all inappropriate objects, one abandons all sense objects. To assume that which is not under ones control is under ones control is deluded egotism. Rejecting egotism in all its forms is understood to be under the control of the Supreme Lord Krishna. This is the goal to fully strive for.

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Ramanuja
Ramanuja's Commentary

The word kamas means desires or those things which one wishes to enjoy such as taste or touch. Lord Krishna is instructing that whoever can relinquish these desires is free from craving, free from my-ness the conception that these things are mine and free from I-ness, my-ness and the conception that I am this body. Such a one not bewildered does misidentify the physical body as being the soul, rather such a one perceives the soul and attains peace.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Nimbaditya
Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary

In answer to the question, Who is qualified for this yoga which bestows such a great reward? Lord Krishna states the word yah vihaya whomsoever giving up. The use of the pronoun yah meaning who whosoever denotes that there are no restrictions regarding class, caste, education or qualification for engaging in this process of self-realisation preceded by abandoning attachment to all sense objects. Abandoning fully all desires for things to obtain, desires present and desires approaching, experiencing those things only which come on their own accord. Free from attachment and hence free from egoism, devoid of feeling my-ness such as this is mine, when acquiring food, clothing, etc. and free from even the thirst of enjoyment. Being free as well from the feeling of I-ness towards the body and senses thinking that I am the physical body syndrome. Due to the firm knowledge about the eternal soul being distinctly different from all of these material designations, wherever and whatever such a one engages themselves they are always situated in a state of perfect peace.

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Comment by Paramananda das on October 18, 2013 at 4:30am

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

This verse describes the person who, not having faith in the sense objects, does not enjoy them at all. He is devoid of Possessiveness and ego regarding his body and objects related to the body (nirmamo nirahankarah).

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