Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 54
अर्जुन उवाच
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम्।।
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम्।।
arjuna uvāca
sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhi-sthasya keśava
sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim
also searched as "sthita prajnasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshava"
Translation
Arjuna said, "What is the mode of speech of one who is of firm wisdom, established in the control of the mind? What does a man of firm wisdom speak, O Krsna? How does he sit? How does he move?"
Vāṇi's rendering
Tell me of the one whose wisdom stands firm. How do they speak? How do they sit? How walk?
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| स्थितप्रज्ञस्यsthita-prajñasya | of one whose wisdom stands firm |
| काkā | what is |
| भाषाbhāṣā | the description, the manner of speaking |
| समाधिस्थस्यsamādhi-sthasya | of one settled in deep absorption |
| केशवkeśava | O Krishna, called Keśava |
| स्थितधीःsthita-dhīḥ | the one of steady mind |
| किंkiṁ | how, what |
| प्रभाषेतprabhāṣeta | would speak |
| किम्kim | how |
| आसीतāsīta | would sit, remain seated |
| व्रजेतvrajeta | would walk, move about |
| किम्kim | how |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 54 mean?
Arjuna asks Krishna to describe the person whose wisdom is unshaken — how such a one speaks, sits, and moves. He wants recognisable marks, not a definition. Having heard of the steady mind, he now asks what it looks like in a body that walks around among other people.
Sthita prajnasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshava — what is Arjuna really asking here?
He is asking for evidence. Krishna has spoken of a mind that no longer sways; Arjuna wants to know how that shows in speech, in stillness, in gait. It is a question about outward life, asked by someone who intends to live it, not merely admire it.
Why does Arjuna ask about sitting and walking instead of about the mind itself?
Because the inner state is invisible and he cannot verify it. Sitting and walking he can watch. Arjuna trusts what appears in conduct, and he is right to — steadiness that never reaches the voice or the body has not yet reached very far.
Who is sthita-prajna in the Bhagavad Gita?
The one whose wisdom holds when circumstances move. Not someone who has withdrawn from life, but someone in whom praise and loss no longer redirect the mind. Krishna answers this question through the verses that follow, and the answer is given in behaviour, not in abstraction.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Arjuna has just been told about the steady mind. He does not ask what it feels like. He asks how it speaks, how it sits, how it walks — as though he means to recognise one on the road, or to check himself against the description. This is the question of a practitioner, not a philosopher. Wisdom that stands firm must show somewhere, and Arjuna looks for it in posture and gait and ordinary talk. He is right to. Whatever you have understood will appear in how you answer the next interruption, not in what you can explain about it.