टीका

Commentary

This verse provides the definition of the yogi who has truly arrived — not defined by external circumstances, posture, or technique, but by an inner state: the mind fully disciplined (viniyatam chittam), settled in transcendence (atmaneva-avatishthate), and free from all material desires (nisprhah sarva-kamebhyah).

The word “viniyatam” — specially disciplined, particularly controlled — goes beyond ordinary mental regulation. Ordinary discipline keeps the mind in check by effort and suppression. The discipline described here is deeper: the mind has been so thoroughly trained through sustained practice that it naturally rests in the transcendent rather than constantly straining toward external objects. This is the difference between a river that has been temporarily dammed and a river whose course has been permanently redirected.

“Atmaneva” — in the Self alone — points to where the disciplined mind naturally rests. For the Advaita Vedantin, this is rest in the impersonal Brahman; for the devotee, it is rest in the consciousness of Krishna. What both share is the quality of transcendence — the mind is no longer at the mercy of the fluctuating inner weather of desire, fear, memory, and anticipation.

“Nisprhah sarva-kamebhyah” — devoid of all material desires — is the completing condition. Desire, in yogic understanding, is not primarily an emotion but a gravitational force that pulls the mind outward and downward — toward the objects of sense rather than toward the Self. When this gravitational pull is finally quiet, the mind settles naturally into its own ground. This is yoga in its fully accomplished state.

Historical Context

The phrase “sarva-kamebhyah nisprhah” echoes the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’s description of the liberated sage: “sa ya iccha-rahito, nih-sprhah” — one without desire, without craving. This quality of desirelessness is the common defining mark of liberation across all schools of Vedic philosophy, though they differ on what exactly remains when desire is extinguished.