Sanskrit
यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः । इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥
yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
Translation
When, again, as a tortoise draws in on all sides its limbs, he withdraws his senses from the objects of sense, then is his understanding well poised.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The most famous image in this portrait: a tortoise drawing its limbs fully inward. It’s a useful corrective to a common misreading of non-attachment as passivity — the withdrawal described here is active and deliberate, something the person does, not a state they merely happen to be in. The tortoise can also extend its limbs again at will — the withdrawal is reversible and chosen, not a shell slammed shut. That distinguishes it from mere suppression, whose failure mode verse 59 goes on to name.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yadā saṃharate cāyaṃयदा संहरते चायं
- and when this one draws in (yadā + saṃharate + ca + ayam)
- kūrmo'ṅgānīvaकूर्मोऽङ्गानीव
- like a tortoise its limbs (kūrmaḥ + aṅgāni + iva)
- sarvaśaḥसर्वशः
- completely
- indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyasइन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्
- the senses from the sense-objects (indriyāṇi + indriya-arthebhyaḥ)
- tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitāतस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता
- his wisdom is well established (tasya + prajñā + pratiṣṭhitā)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The chosen image is a tortoise, not a rock or a sleeping animal — its limbs aren’t gone, only retracted, reversibly, on command. Withdrawal here isn’t the destruction of the senses; it’s a deliberate, temporary retraction a person performs at will, which is a very different thing from amputating desire outright.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Practice disengaging attention from a trigger as a reversible, deliberate act you choose to perform — like the tortoise pulling in its limbs — rather than something you need to have first eliminated entirely.
Professional
- In a heated meeting, deliberately withdraw your attention from a provocation for a moment without permanently disengaging from the work — treat it as a reversible skill you can call up on demand, not a personality trait you either have or don't.
Family & Social
- When a conversation turns triggering, deliberately step back on purpose, with the clear intent to re-engage once steady — that's the tortoise's retraction, not withdrawal for good.
Ask yourself
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