Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 54
ब्रह्मभूतः प्रसन्नात्मा न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु मद्भक्तिं लभते पराम्।।
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
also searched as "brahma bhutah prasannatma na shochati na kankshati"
Translation
Having realized the state of Brahman, tranquil, he neither grieves nor craves. Regarding all beings alike, he attains supreme devotion to Me.
Vāṇi's rendering
Serene in the eternal, one grieves nothing, craves nothing; equal to all beings, one rises into supreme love for me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ब्रह्मभूतःbrahma-bhūtaḥ | become one with the eternal; settled in Brahman |
| प्रसन्नprasanna | clear, serene, unclouded |
| आत्माātmā | self, inner being (joined as prasannātmā by sandhi) |
| नna | not |
| शोचतिśocati | grieves, mourns |
| नna | not |
| काङ्क्षतिkāṅkṣati | craves, hankers after |
| समःsamaḥ | equal, even-handed |
| सर्वेषुsarveṣu | towards all |
| भूतेषुbhūteṣu | beings, living things |
| मद्भक्तिम्mad-bhaktim | love for me, devotion to me |
| लभतेlabhate | attains, comes into |
| पराम्parām | supreme, highest |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 54 mean?
It means that the one settled in the eternal grows quiet — no grief pulling backward, no craving pulling forward — and that quiet is not an ending. Seeing all beings evenly, such a person comes into the highest love for Krishna. Serenity here is the ground; bhakti is what grows in it.
What is the meaning of brahma bhutah prasannatma na shochati na kankshati?
Brahma-bhūtaḥ is one who has become the eternal rather than merely thought about it. Prasannātmā is a self gone clear, like water when the silt settles. Such a person neither mourns what left nor reaches for what has not come. Both movements have simply stopped, and what remains is steady.
If a person wants nothing, how can they still love Krishna?
Because craving is not love — it is need wearing love's face. Wanting uses the other to fill a hole. When the hole closes, what is left can finally give without taking. Krishna calls this parā bhakti, supreme love. It becomes possible only when there is nothing left to get.
How can I be equal to all beings in ordinary life?
Not by feeling the same warmth towards everyone — that cannot be forced. It begins when you stop sorting people by what they can do for you. Notice, in one conversation today, the moment you start calculating. That calculation is the inequality. Let it drop, and the evenness comes on its own.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Notice the order. First the stillness, then the love — not the other way round. Krishna has spent the chapter stripping Arjuna down: no ego, no grasping, no anger, a mind that has stopped arguing with what is. And what grows in that cleared ground is not indifference. It is bhakti. The one who craves nothing and grieves nothing does not go cold; he becomes capable of a love that wanting always spoiled. Equal to all beings — because nobody is a means to anything anymore. Your calm is not the destination. It is the room where something can finally arrive.