Sanskrit
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः । स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥
yo 'ntaḥsukho 'ntarārāmas tathāntarjyotir eva yaḥ sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃ brahmabhūto 'dhigacchati
Translation
He who is happy within, who rejoiceth within, who is illuminated within, that Yogî, becoming the Eternal, goeth to the Peace of the Eternal.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Three inward-facing compounds stack up in a row — happy within, delighting within, lit within — building a portrait of self-sufficiency so complete that the outer world stops functioning as a reference point at all. Brahma-bhūta, “having become Brahman,” is a striking claim of identity rather than proximity or resemblance, and brahma-nirvāṇa names the peace that attends it — nirvāṇa appearing here centuries before its more famous Buddhist usage, meaning something closer to the extinguishing of a sense of separateness than annihilation. This verse is doing double duty as both a description of the realized state and a preview of what chapter 6 will spend its middle verses teaching someone how to reach. Brahma-bhūta — “become Brahman” — is identity, not likeness; it recurs at BG 6.27 and BG 18.54 as the state from which devotion becomes possible. Brahma-nirvāṇa is chapter 2’s brahma-nirvāṇa from BG 2.72, now given a practising subject.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yo 'ntaḥsukho 'ntarārāmasयो ऽन्तःसुखो ऽन्तरारामस्
- who is happy within, delighting within (yaḥ + antaḥ-sukhaḥ + antaḥ-ārāmaḥ)
- tathāntarjyotir eva yaḥतथान्तर्ज्योतिः एव यः
- and likewise lit within (tathā + antaḥ-jyotiḥ + eva + yaḥ)
- sa yogī brahmanirvāṇaṃस योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं
- that yogī, [reaching] the peace of Brahman (saḥ + yogī + brahma-nirvāṇam)
- brahmabhūto 'dhigacchatiब्रह्मभूतो ऽधिगच्छति
- having become Brahman, attains it (brahma-bhūtaḥ + adhigacchati)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The three compounds aren’t simple repetition — they escalate. “Happy within” names a feeling state; “delighting within” adds an active, ongoing engagement rather than a passive condition; “illuminated within” moves further still, into something closer to perception. The verse isn’t just saying inward three times for emphasis — it traces a progression from feeling to activity to seeing, three different faculties all relocated to the same interior address.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're building an inward-facing practice, expect it to progress through more than one faculty — not just feeling settled, but actively finding engagement there, and eventually perceiving more clearly from that place, rather than stopping at the first, easiest layer.
Professional
- When trying to make deep work sustainable, don't stop at just feeling calmer — build toward genuinely finding engagement in the work itself, and eventually clearer judgment from that quieter state; each layer supports the next one.
Family & Social
- If you're cultivating contentment that doesn't depend on your family's ups and downs, know that feeling calmer is only the first layer — real steadiness usually also means finding active engagement and clearer perception from that same settled place.
Ask yourself
A few ways to take this verse past reading. Ticks and the note stay in this browser.
Reflect on this verse
Keep exploring
Topics