Sanskrit
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव । स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim
Translation
What the mark, of him who is stable of mind, steadfast in contemplation, O Keshava? How doth the stable-minded talk, how doth he sit, how walk?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The voice shifts here — this is Arjuna speaking for the first time since verse 10, and his question is the right one: not “is this true?” but “what does it look like in an actual person?” Krishna’s abstract definition of yoga in verse 53 gets cashed out starting with the very next verse, in concrete behavioral terms — how the stable-minded person speaks, sits, and moves through the world. Arjuna asks for bhāṣā — a “way of speaking of,” a description — across four registers: speech, sitting, walking, and simply being. The answer, verses 55–72, keeps returning to inner markers rather than outward ones, which is itself part of the reply.
Study deeper
Word by word
- sthitaprajñasyaस्थितप्रज्ञस्य
- of one of steady wisdom (sthita-prajña)
- kā bhāṣāका भाषा
- what is the description? (kā + bhāṣā)
- samādhisthasyaसमाधिस्थस्य
- of one settled in samādhi (samādhi-sthasya)
- keśavaकेशव
- O Keśava
- sthitadhīḥस्थितधीः
- the steady-minded one (sthita-dhīḥ)
- kiṃ prabhāṣetaकिं प्रभाषेत
- how would he speak? (kim + prabhāṣeta)
- kim āsītaकिं आसीत
- how sit? (kim + āsīta)
- vrajeta kimव्रजेत किं
- how walk? (vrajeta + kim)
Commentary
Site Commentary
After a chapter of metaphysics, Arjuna’s first question in over forty verses is strikingly mundane: how does this person talk, sit, walk? He skips straight past “is this true” to “what would I actually see” — the most concrete register available, right when the teaching has gotten most abstract.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When a big idea or resolution feels overwhelming, the useful next question isn't "is this even true for me" — it's Arjuna's question: what would this actually look like in how I talk, sit, and move through an ordinary day?
Professional
- After a sweeping strategy announcement, the sharpest question in the room isn't whether the strategy is right — it's Arjuna's question, translated: what do we do differently on Monday morning?
Family & Social
- When someone close to you states a big value or intention, ask what it looks like at dinner tonight rather than debating the abstract claim — concrete behavior is easier to agree on than principle.
Ask yourself
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