Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 59
विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः।
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते।।
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते।।
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’pyasya paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
also searched as "vishaya vinivartante niraharasya dehinah"
Translation
The objects of the senses, except for the pleasure they bring, turn away from the abstinent dweller in the body. Even the pleasure turns away from him when the Self, which is supreme over the senses, is seen.
Vāṇi's rendering
You can starve the senses and still crave. The craving itself leaves only when you taste something higher.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| विषयाःviṣayāḥ | the objects of the senses |
| विनिवर्तन्तेvinivartante | turn away, fall back |
| निराहारस्यnirāhārasya | of one who abstains, who takes no food for the senses |
| देहिनःdehinaḥ | of the embodied one, the dweller in a body |
| रसrasa | relish, taste, the liking for them |
| वर्जम्varjam | excepting, leaving aside |
| रसःrasaḥ | the relish itself |
| अपिapi | even, also (sandhi: raso 'pi) |
| अस्यasya | of him (sandhi: 'pyasya) |
| परम्param | the supreme, the highest |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen |
| निवर्ततेnivartate | turns away, ceases |
Frequently asked
What does it mean that the objects leave but the relish stays?
You can put the thing out of reach and still want it. Krishna distinguishes the removal of an object from the removal of the appetite. Abstinence handles the first. Only seeing something higher handles the second.
Is Krishna saying self-discipline is useless in Bhagavad Gita 2.59?
No. He is saying it is incomplete. Restraint keeps the senses from the objects, but the liking sits untouched underneath, waiting. Discipline clears space; it does not by itself end the wanting.
What is the 'something higher' that ends craving?
Krishna calls it param — the supreme, the Self that is above the senses. It is not a better pleasure of the same kind. It is a taste that makes the old ones lose their pull, and the giving up stops feeling like loss.
How does this verse apply to breaking a habit?
White-knuckle abstaining is real work, but it leaves the desire intact, so the habit returns the moment the guard drops. Something genuinely worth more has to enter the space the habit occupied.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Fasting is the easy part. Krishna has just described the man who withdraws his senses like a tortoise, and now he marks the gap in it: you can shut the doors and the hunger still walks the house. The objects go; the taste for them stays. Arjuna will meet this — a will strong enough to abstain, not strong enough to stop wanting. And Krishna does not prescribe more force. He says the craving loosens only when something better is tasted, when param is seen. Renunciation that is only denial keeps the appetite alive. You do not argue a hunger away. You feed it truer food.