Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 72
एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति।
स्थित्वाऽस्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति।।
स्थित्वाऽस्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति।।
eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṁ prāpya vimuhyati
sthitvāsyām anta-kāle ’pi brahma-nirvāṇam ṛcchati
also searched as "esha brahmi sthitih partha nainam prapya vimuhyati"
Translation
This is the Brahmic state, O Arjuna. No one attaining to this is deluded. By abiding in this state even at the hour of death, one will attain the Self.
Vāṇi's rendering
The state of the eternal — reach it and delusion ends. Hold it even at death, and be free.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एषाeṣā | this |
| ब्राह्मीbrāhmī | of the eternal, belonging to Brahman |
| स्थितिःsthitiḥ | the standing, the settled state |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Prithā |
| नna | not (joined with the next word by sandhi) |
| एनाम्enām | this state |
| प्राप्यprāpya | having reached |
| विमुह्यतिvimuhyati | is deluded, is bewildered |
| स्थित्वाsthitvā | having stood firm, abiding |
| अस्याम्asyām | in this (state); joined to the previous word by sandhi |
| अन्त-कालेanta-kāle | at the end-time, at the hour of death |
| अपिapi | even |
| ब्रह्म-निर्वाणम्brahma-nirvāṇam | the freedom that is the eternal, the going-out of every fire |
| ऋच्छतिṛcchati | reaches, arrives at |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 72 mean?
It names the destination of everything Krishna has taught in this chapter. Brāhmī sthitiḥ is the mind settled in what does not pass. Reach it and bewilderment ends — not because problems vanish, but because you are no longer lost inside them. Hold that steadiness even at the final hour, and freedom is already yours.
What does esha brahmi sthitih partha mean?
Krishna is pointing: this — the state he has just described, desireless, unshaken, at home in itself. He calls Arjuna pārtha, son of Prithā, the family name, the ordinary man. The eternal standing is not for someone else. It is offered to the one sitting in the chariot, undone.
Why does Krishna mention the hour of death in this verse?
Because it is the hardest hour to be steady in, and therefore the test. If the mind can rest in the eternal when the body is leaving, it can rest there anywhere. Krishna is not asking you to wait for that hour. He is saying no hour, however late, is closed to you.
What is brahma-nirvana in the Gita?
Not extinction, though the word means a flame going out. What goes out is the burning — craving, grasping, the fever of I and mine. What remains is the eternal, which was never lit and never dies. Krishna gives this as the chapter's last word: the fire ends, and you are still there.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Krishna ends the chapter with a word for the destination, not the road. Brāhmī sthitiḥ — the standing in the eternal. Notice what he promises: not visions, not powers. Delusion ends. The confusion that had Arjuna sitting down with his bow, the sense that every choice was a catastrophe — that goes. And then the harder line. Hold it even at the last hour, and you are free. Krishna is saying it is never too late, and never too early. Whatever hour you are in now is the hour. Steady the mind here, in this ordinary afternoon, and death will find nothing left to frighten.