संस्कृत
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता । योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ॥
yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥ
अनुवाद
As a lamp in a windless place flickereth not, to such is likened the Yogi of subdued thought, absorbed in the yoga of the Self.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
व्याख्या
The lamp-in-a-windless-place simile is the chapter’s most quoted image, and it earns its fame by being exact rather than merely poetic: it’s not stillness as the absence of light but stillness as the absence of external disturbance — the flame is still burning, still active, just undisturbed. That distinction matters for a text that has spent five and a half chapters arguing against withdrawal from action. The flame keeps burning; only the wind is absent. The image answers, in advance, Arjuna’s counter-simile at BG 6.34 — the untrained mind is like the wind.
गहराई से अध्ययन करें
शब्द-दर-शब्द
- yathā dīpo nivātasthoयथा दीपो निवातस्थो
- as a lamp in a windless place (yathā + dīpaḥ + nivāta-sthaḥ)
- neṅgate sopamā smṛtāनेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता
- does not flicker — this is the likeness given (na + iṅgate + sā + upamā + smṛtā)
- yogino yatacittasyaयोगिनो यतचित्तस्य
- of the yogi of controlled mind (yoginaḥ + yata-cittasya)
- yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥयुञ्जतो योगं आत्मनः
- practising the yoga of the Self (yuñjataḥ + yogam + ātmanaḥ)
टीका
Site Commentary
The lamp simile earns its fame by being precise rather than merely pretty: the flame isn’t extinguished, it’s simply undisturbed by wind. That distinction is doing real work for a text that has spent five and a half chapters arguing against withdrawal from action — the steadiness being described is protection from disturbance, not the absence of activity.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Site Commentary — Second Reading
The simile’s load-bearing word is nivāta — windless — a description of the place, not of the flame’s own effort or willpower. The lamp isn’t steady because it’s trying hard to hold still; it’s steady because it has been put somewhere the wind can’t reach it. Read literally, the verse argues less for heroic inner discipline than for engineering your conditions — the seat, the hour, the company you keep — so that steadiness becomes the default rather than a feat performed against resistance.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
इस श्लोक को अपनाएँ
पाठ
व्यक्तिगत
- When you picture the calm you're aiming for, don't picture stopping — picture a flame still burning, just undisturbed. The goal isn't to feel less or do less, it's to keep functioning fully while shielded from what would otherwise scatter you.
व्यावसायिक
- A calm, high-performing team isn't one where activity has slowed down — it's one where the work continues at full pace while shielded from the disruptions (reorgs, unclear priorities, noise) that would otherwise scatter its focus. Protect the shield, not the pace.
परिवार और समाज
- Being emotionally steady for someone in crisis doesn't mean going numb or checked out — it means staying fully present and engaged while not letting their storm knock you off balance, like a flame still burning in a windless place.
स्वयं से पूछें
इस श्लोक को पढ़ने से आगे ले जाने के कुछ तरीके। टिक और नोट इसी ब्राउज़र में रहते हैं।
इस श्लोक पर चिंतन करें
खोज जारी रखें
अध्ययन-मार्ग