Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 71
विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः।
निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शांतिमधिगच्छति।।
निर्ममो निरहंकारः स शांतिमधिगच्छति।।
vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān pumānś carati niḥspṛhaḥ
nirmamo nirahankāraḥ sa śāntim adhigacchati
also searched as "vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumans carati nihsprhah"
Translation
The one who, abandoning all desires, abides without longing, possession, and the sense of 'I' and 'mine', wins peace.
Vāṇi's rendering
Drop every craving and walk wanting nothing, claiming nothing as 'mine,' no self to defend — peace comes.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| विहायvihāya | having let go, abandoning |
| कामान्kāmān | cravings, desires |
| यःyaḥ | the one who |
| सर्वान्sarvān | all of them, every one |
| पुमान्pumān | a person, a man (joins with the next word as pumāṃś) |
| चरतिcarati | moves about, walks, lives |
| निःस्पृहःniḥspṛhaḥ | without hankering, reaching for nothing |
| निर्ममःnirmamo | with no 'mine' in him (nirmamaḥ before a soft sound) |
| निरहंकारःnirahankāraḥ | with no 'I' to defend |
| सःsa | he, that one |
| शान्तिम्śāntim | peace |
| अधिगच्छतिadhigacchati | comes upon, reaches |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 71 mean?
It names four things dropped in sequence: cravings, the reaching that follows them, the sense of 'mine,' and the 'I' that owns. What remains is a person who still walks and works, but claims nothing. Krishna says peace is not won by such a person — it is what shows up once nothing is blocking it.
vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumans carati nihsprhah - what is the meaning?
Having let go of all cravings, he moves through the world hankering after nothing. The verb is carati — he walks, he lives, he goes on. Renunciation here is not withdrawal from action but a change in what you carry while acting. The hands stay busy; the grip opens.
Does this verse ask me to give up everything I own?
It asks you to give up the word mine, which is not the same thing. Nirmamaḥ is about a claim, not a possession. You can keep the house and the work and the people; what falls away is the anxious ownership that turns each of them into something you must defend.
Why is nirahankarah mentioned last?
Because it is the root. Cravings arise for someone; 'mine' needs an 'I' to belong to. Krishna lists the branches first and the trunk last. When the self that must be protected quietens, there is nobody left for desire to serve. That is why the verse can end simply: peace comes.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice the order. The desires go first, then the wanting, then the 'mine,' and last the one who was doing the wanting. Krishna is not describing a saint who owns nothing; he is describing a man who walks — carati — through the same streets, the same work, carrying no claim. Arjuna's grief is thick with mine: my kinsmen, my sin, my name after the war. Take the mine out and the grief has nothing to hold on to. Peace is not something you achieve here. It arrives when there is no longer anyone standing in its way. Loosen one claim today and feel the room it makes.