Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 69
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी।
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः।।
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः।।
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti sanyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
also searched as "ya nisha sarvabhutanam tasyam jagarti sanyami"
Translation
What is night for all beings, in it the one who is controlled is awake; when all beings are awake, that is the night for the sage who sees.
Vāṇi's rendering
What is night to the world, the sage is awake in. What the world wakes for, he sees as night.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| याyā | that which |
| निशाniśā | is night |
| सर्वभूतानाम्sarva-bhūtānāṁ | for all living beings |
| तस्याम्tasyāṁ | in that (night) |
| जागर्तिjāgarti | is wide awake |
| संयमीsanyamī | the one who holds himself in check |
| यस्याम्yasyāṁ | in which |
| जाग्रतिjāgrati | are awake, are busy |
| भूतानिbhūtāni | all beings |
| साsā | that |
| निशाniśā | is night |
| पश्यतःpaśyato | for the one who truly sees (paśyataḥ; the final sound softens before the next word) |
| मुनेःmuneḥ | for the silent sage |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 69 mean?
It means the sage and the world are awake to opposite things. What the world chases with its eyes open — gain, status, the next want — barely registers for the saṁyamī. And the quiet reality he lives in is something the world sleeps through entirely. Not two schedules. Two different definitions of being awake.
What does ya nisha sarvabhutanam tasyam jagarti sanyami teach about daily life?
That your attention is a choice you rarely notice making. Most of a day is spent alert to things that will not matter in a year, and asleep to what is steady underneath. Krishna is not asking you to withdraw from the day. He is asking which of the two you keep waking up for.
Does this verse mean a spiritual person should stay awake at night?
No. Night and waking are Krishna's images, not instructions. Night means what you are blind to; waking means what commands you. The sage is blind to the frenzy and alive to the still. Nothing here concerns the hours you sleep — only what you are actually present to while your eyes are open.
Why would the sage seem asleep to ordinary people?
Because he does not respond to what everyone else responds to. The rumour passes and he does not turn his head. The prize is announced and he does not lean forward. To those measuring alertness by agitation, this looks like dullness. It is the opposite. He is simply awake somewhere they have not been.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two people in the same room, awake to different worlds. What keeps the world up at night — the deal, the slight, the tally of who owes what — the sage sleeps straight through. And what he is awake in, the steady presence under all that noise, the world has never once noticed. Krishna is not describing a better schedule. He is describing an inversion so complete that the two cannot see each other's day. Arjuna is being told that steadiness will look like absence to everyone around him. You will not be understood as awake. Notice what still holds your attention at three in the morning.