Sanskrit
युञ्जन्नेवं सदाऽऽत्मानं योगी नियतमानसः । शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति ॥
yuñjann evaṃ sadātmānaṃ yogī niyatamānasaḥ śāntiṃ nirvāṇaparamāṃ matsaṃsthām adhigacchati
Translation
The Yogi ever united thus with the Self, with the mind controlled, goeth to Peace, to the supreme Bliss that abideth in Me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This closes the physical-instruction block of verses 11–14 by naming its destination: peace that has nirvana as its highest point, located in Krishna (mat-samstham). The word nirvana here is doing genuinely cross-tradition work — Besant’s “supreme Bliss” glosses a term more associated with the Buddhist extinguishing of craving, folded here into a theistic frame. Mat-saṃsthā — “having its ground in Me” — locates the peace in Krishna, not in a state: the same relocation BG 5.29 performed at the end of chapter 5.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yuñjann evaṃ sadātmānaṃयुञ्जन्न् एवं सदात्मानं
- ever yoking the self thus (yuñjan + evam + sadā + ātmānam)
- yogī niyatamānasaḥयोगी नियतमानसः
- the yogi of disciplined mind (yogī + niyata-mānasaḥ)
- śāntiṃ nirvāṇaparamāṃशान्तिं निर्वाणपरमां
- peace that culminates in nirvāṇa (śāntim + nirvāṇa-paramām)
- matsaṃsthām adhigacchatiमत्संस्थां अधिगच्छति
- abiding in Me, he attains (mat-saṃsthām + adhigacchati)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Besant’s “supreme Bliss” is translating a word — nirvana — most readers associate with a different tradition’s vocabulary for the extinguishing of craving. The Gita doesn’t avoid the word; it folds it directly into a theistic frame, locating that peace in Krishna specifically (mat-samstham). The borrowed vocabulary is a reminder that the destination described here wasn’t the exclusive property of any one system even in its own era.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Don't assume a practice or insight that helped you has to come wrapped in one tradition's vocabulary to be legitimate — the same destination can be described in more than one system's language without either one owning it exclusively.
Professional
- When adopting a practice from a different discipline or company culture, don't get hung up on its original vocabulary — translate the underlying mechanism into your team's language rather than importing the jargon wholesale or rejecting it because the words feel foreign.
Family & Social
- If a family member describes the same peace you've found using a completely different vocabulary — religious, secular, therapeutic — resist correcting their words. The destination can be the same even when the map looks unfamiliar.
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