Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥२३॥
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ
prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt
kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ
sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ
Word for word (synonyms)
- śaknoti
- able to do
- iha eva
- in the present body
- yaḥ
- one who
- soḍhum
- to tolerate
- prāk
- before
- śarīra
- body
- vimokṣaṇāt
- giving up
- kāma
- desire
- krodha
- anger
- udbhavam
- generated from
- vegam
- urge
- saḥ
- he
- yuktaḥ
- in trance
- saḥ
- he
- sukhī
- happy
- naraḥ
- human being
Translation
Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogī and is happy in this world.
Defined in the Gītā
Yogī
Who is a real yogī?
The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work.
Purport
If one wants to make steady progress on the path of self-realization, he must try to control the forces of the material senses. There are the forces of talk, forces of anger, forces of mind, forces of the stomach, forces of the genitals, and forces of the tongue. One who is able to control the forces of all these different senses, and the mind, is called gosvāmī, or svāmī. Such gosvāmīs live strictly controlled lives, and forego altogether the forces of the senses. Material desires, when unsatiated, generate anger, and thus the mind, eyes and chest become agitated. Therefore, one must practice to control them before one gives up this material body. One who can do this is understood to be self-realized and is thus happy in the state of self-realization. It is the duty of the transcendentalist to try strenuously to control desire and anger.
What this verse teaches
The study note for this verse is in editorial review.
- Gita for Life
- Anger
In thematic compilations 2
- One has to tolerate the urges of material senses and desires untill death (5.23 śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ...)
- Role of jñāna: Using one’s discrimination to control the mind and senses (Chapters 13-14, 5.22-23 ye hi saṁsparśa-jā..., 15.1-4 ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ...)
- Until death one must tolerate the urges of senses, desires and anger. (5.23 śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ...)
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 2
- Bhagavad-gītā 5.22–29 1966-08-31 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 5.17–25 1969-02-08 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.