FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 18.49

అసక్తబుద్ధి: సర్వత్ర జితాత్మా విగతస్పృహ: । నైష్కర్మ్యసిద్ధిం పరమాం సన్న్యాసేనాధిగచ్ఛతి ॥ ౪౯ ॥
asakta-buddhiḥ sarvatra
[asakta-buddhih sarvatra]
jitātmā vigata-spṛhaḥ
[jitaatmaa vigata-sprihah]
naiṣkarmya-siddhiṁ paramāṁ
[naishkarmya-siddhim paramaam]
sannyāsenādhigacchati
[sannyaasenaadhigachchati]
Word-for-word
asakta - buddhiḥ — having unattached intelligence sarvatra — everywhere jita - ātmā — having control of the mind vigata - spṛhaḥ — without material desires naiṣkarmya - siddhim — the perfection of nonreaction paramām — supreme sannyāsena — by the renounced order of life adhigacchati — one attains .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
asakta-buddhiḥ sarvatra
asakta - buddhiḥ
having unattached intelligence
sarvatra
everywhere
jitātmā vigata-spṛhaḥ
jita - ātmā
having control of the mind
vigata - spṛhaḥ
without material desires
naiṣkarmya-siddhiṁ paramāṁ
naiṣkarmya - siddhim
the perfection of nonreaction
paramām
supreme
sannyāsenādhigacchati
sannyāsena
by the renounced order of life
adhigacchati
one attains .
Important Words
  • asakta-buddhiḥ — having unattached intelligence
    Compound. The buddhi itself — not just the will — is unattached. Detachment has penetrated the discriminating faculty, so judgments themselves no longer cling.
  • jita-ātmā — having conquered the self / mind
    Compound. The mind is *conquered*, not merely managed. A higher condition than ordinary self-control — the inner battlefield is settled.
  • vigata-spṛhaḥ — without material craving
    Past participle compound. Spṛhā — yearning — has *gone* (vi-gata). Not suppressed, not redirected, but absent. The seeker has aged past the appetite.
  • naiṣkarmya-siddhim — the perfection of non-reaction
    Compound. Not *no action* but *no karmic reaction*. The verse names a precise technical state — actions continue, but they produce no binding aftermath.
  • sannyāsena — by the renounced order
    Instrumental. The means is *sannyāsa* — but Kṛṣṇa has already redefined sannyāsa in this chapter as kāmya-karma-tyāga. So the instrumental cause here is the right kind of renunciation, not the wrong one of verse 7.
  • adhigacchati — attains
    From adhi-gam — to reach over. The seeker *reaches across* the karmic field into a state above it. The verb suggests bridging, not climbing.
One who is self-controlled and unattached and who disregards all material enjoyments can obtain, by practice of renunciation, the highest perfect stage of freedom from reaction.
Purport

Real renunciation means that one should always think himself part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore think that he has no right to enjoy the results of his work. Since he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, the results of his work must be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord. This is actually Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is really a sannyāsī, one in the renounced order of life. By such a mentality, one is satisfied because he is actually acting for the Supreme. Thus he is not attached to anything material; he becomes accustomed to not taking pleasure in anything beyond the transcendental happiness derived from the service of the Lord. A sannyāsī is supposed to be free from the reactions of his past activities, but a person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness automatically attains this perfection without even accepting the so-called order of renunciation. This state of mind is called yogārūḍha, or the perfectional stage of yoga. As confirmed in the Third Chapter, yas tv ātma-ratir eva syāt: one who is satisfied in himself has no fear of any kind of reaction from his activity.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
49. He whose intelligence is unattached, whose mind is under control, and who is devoid of desire for material happiness, attains the highest perfection by complete renunciation of action.
Commentary

The first type of sannyāsī gives up the faults in his work, characterized by attachment to being the doer and attachment to the results. When that sannyāsī perfects his sādhana over time, then he reaches the yogārūḍha stage. Then he gives up actions completely. That is the second type of sannyāsa, mentioned here. He whose intelligence is free from all attachments to material objects (asakta- buddhiḥ), whose mind is under control (jitātmā), who has no desire for the happiness even of Brahmaloka (vigata-spṛhaḥ), then, by complete renunciation of all activities (sannyāsena), attains the highest perfection of no action at all (naiṣkarmyam). In other words, at the stage of yogārūḍha (no actions), with attainment of naiṣkarmyam, one reaches the highest perfection.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
49. He whose intelligence is unattached, whose mind is under control, and who is devoid of desire for material happiness, attains the highest perfecton by complete renunciation of action.
Commentary

The aspirant for liberation (arurukṣa), a saniṣtha fixed in doing his duties, after having realized his svarūpa by being fixed in karma which contains jṣāna within it, should give up completely that level of karma. That is explained in this verse. He whose intelligence is unattached (asakta buddhiḥ) to all things except ātmā (sarvatra), because his mind is under control from tasting the bliss of ātmā (jitātmā), and because he is devoid of desires for the varieties of happiness derived from objects other than ātmā (vigata spṛhaḥ), attains the highest perfection called yogārūḍha, characterized by non-action, through renouncing completely (sannyāsena) all actions, which are causes of disturbance in tasting of ātmā. This has also already been stated in the third chapter: yas tv ātma-ratir eva syād (BG 3.17)

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

One who is self-controlled and completely unattached, can engage in Jnana-yoga and can obtain

highest perfect stage of freedom from reaction

Thus explains – ‘Who can practice renunciation and attain highest perfect stage of freedom from reaction” (As per Jnana-yoga)
Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
18.49 Asakta-buddhih, he whose intellect, the internal organ, remains unattached; sarvatra, to everything, with regard to son, wife and others who are the cuases of attachment; jitatma, who has conered his internal organs; and vigata-sprhah, who is desireless, whose thirst for his body, life and objects of enjoyment have been eradicated;-he who is such a knower of the Self, adhigaccahti, attains; sannyasena, through monasticism, through perfect knowledge or through renunciation of all actions preceded by this knowledge; the paramam, supreme, most excellent; naiskarmya-siddhim, perfection consisting in the state of one free from duties. One is said to be free from duties from whom duties have daparted as a result of realizing that the actionless Brahman is his Self; his state is naiskarmyam. That siddhi (perfection) which is this naiskarmya is naiskarmya-siddhi. Or, this phrase means 'achievement of naiskarmya', i.e., achievement of the state of remaining established in one's own real nature as the actionless Self-which is different from the success arising from Karma (-yoga), and is of the form of being established in the state of immediate Liberation. Accordingly has it been said, '৷৷.having given up all actions mentally,৷৷.without doing or causing (others) to do anything at all' (5.13). The stages through which one who has attained success-which has the aforesaid characteristics and which arises from the performance of one's own duties mentioned earlier as worship of God-, and in whom has arisen discriminative knowledge, achieves perfection-in the form of exclusive adherence to Knowledge of the Self and consisting in the state of one free from duties-have to be stated. With this is view the Lord says:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
18.49 He whose understanding is, on all sides, without attachments, concerning fruits etc., whose 'self is conered,' i.e., who has conered his mind; who, by contemplating on the agency of the Supreme Person, is free from the habit of attributing agency to the self; and who is thus eipped with Sannyasa which has been positively determined to be the same as Tyaga - such a man, performing actions, attains supreme perfection which is free from all activities. The meaning is that he attains devotion to Dhyana which is the consummation of even Jnana Yoga; he attains Dhyana Yoga (Yoga of meditation) consisting in the complete cessation of sensory activity, which is going to be described hereafter.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
18.49 See Comment under 18.60
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
18.49 He whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who has subdued his self, from whom desire has fled, he by renunciation, attains the supreme state of freedom from action.
Commentary

18.49 असक्तबुद्धिः whose intellect is unattached? सर्वत्र eveywhere? जितात्मा who has subdued his self? विगतस्पृहः whose desire has fled? नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिम् the perfection consisting in freedom from action? परमाम् the supreme? संन्यासेन by renunciaion? अधिगच्छति (he) attains.Commentary The mind of one who is free from attachment to wife? son? body and property? who has controlled his senses and the mind? who has no desire for the body? for life and for sensual pleasure? turns inwards towards God or the immortal Self. It is not attracted by the sensual objects of the world. It is filled with dispassion and discrimination.He gradually gets himself established in his own Self which is of the nature of ExistenceKnowledgeBliss. Such a person who has knowledge of the Self attains to the highest perfection? to pefect freedom from action by renunciation.Ignorance is destroyed by the attainment of the knowledge of the Self. There is cessation of activity. One may perform actions for the solidarity of the world and yet he will not be bound by actions as he has attained absolute freedom from action through the knowledge of the Self. The fire of knowledge has burnt the fruitbearing effects of Karmas or actions. He has no idea of agency as he is absolutely free from egoism? as he has identified himself with the Supreme Being.Naishkarmya siddhi may also mean the attainment of the state of Naishkarmya. In this exalted? magnanimous? ineffable state of divine splendour and glory? one remains as the actionless Self. This is the state of immediate liberation of the Vedantins (Kaivalya Moksha or Sadyomukti). This marvellous state is attained by renunciation or right knowledge or by the renunciation of all actions brought about by the attainment of the knowledge of the Self. Mentally renouncing all actions and selfcontrolled? the embodied one rests happily in the ninegated? city? neither acting nor causing others to act. (Cf.V.13)Now the Lord teaches in the next verse how a man who? having attained perfection as described above in verse 46? by doing his duty in the service of the Lord can attain perfect freedom from action. He gets discrimination? practises constant meditation and rests in the knowledge of the immutable Self.,(Cf.III.4and19)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
18.49 He whose intellect remains unattached to everything, who has conered his internal organs and is desireless, attains through monasticism the supreme perfection consisting in the state of one free from duties.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
18.49 He whose mind is entirely detached, who has conquered himself, whose desires have vanished, by his renunciation reaches that stage of perfect freedom where action completes itself and leaves no seed.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 3.19 BG 4.18 BG 5.13 SB 11.18.20 SB 11.20.21 SB 1.2.12 CC Madhya 22.145 CC Madhya 19.170 CC Madhya 24.215 Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.22Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.6
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
He whose intelligence is unattached, who is self-controlled, free from desire — by renunciation he attains the supreme stage of freedom from action.
Practical Applications
  • Audit three: unattached intelligence, self-control, desire-freedom.
  • Cultivate the package.
  • Trust that renunciation through these completes.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of the three is weakest?
  • What discipline strengthens it?
Analogy

A bird whose feet never quite touch any branch. Wherever it lands, it lands lightly, and at the slightest signal it lifts away. So with the renunciate of this verse — touching all the work of the world with hands that do not grip.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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