Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 23
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः।।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः।।
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt
kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ
also searched as "shaknotihaiva yah sodhum prak sharira vimokshanat"
Translation
He who is able, even here, before being released from the body, to bear the impulse generated by desire and anger, he is a Yogin (competent for self-realisation); he is the happy man.
Vāṇi's rendering
Whoever, while still in this body, can hold the surge of craving and anger — that one is yoked, and happy.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शक्नोतिśaknoti | is able, has the strength to |
| इहiha | here, in this world (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| एवeva | even, right here itself |
| यःyaḥ | whoever |
| सोढुम्soḍhum | to bear, to withstand without being carried off |
| प्राक्prāk | before, prior to |
| शरीरविमोक्षणात्śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt | the letting-go of the body, death |
| कामक्रोधोद्भवम्kāma-krodha-udbhavam | born of craving and anger |
| वेगम्vegam | the surge, the rush of force |
| सःsa | that one (saḥ, shortened before the following consonant) |
| युक्तःyuktaḥ | yoked, joined, steady in yoga |
| सःsa | that one (repeated for emphasis) |
| सुखीsukhī | happy, glad |
| नरःnaraḥ | person, human being |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 23 mean?
It means the test is now. Krishna says that whoever can bear the surge born of kāma and krodha before the body is let go is already yoked, already happy. Freedom is not postponed to some later world. It is measured by what happens in you the next time wanting rises.
What does shaknotihaiva yah sodhum prak sharira vimokshanat teach?
The phrase prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt means before the body is released — that is, while you are still living, still tempted, still capable of losing your temper. Krishna refuses to let the goal drift into the afterlife. The place to withstand the surge is this body, this day.
Does the Gita ask me to never feel desire or anger?
No. The word is soḍhum, to bear — not to erase. Feelings arrive; Krishna does not promise a person who stops feeling them. He describes one who feels the rush of craving or rage and is not moved off his footing by it. The wave comes. You stay.
Why does Krishna call such a person happy rather than merely disciplined?
Because restraint that only grits its teeth is still being ruled by what it resists. Krishna adds sukhī deliberately. When the surge no longer decides your actions, an ease arrives that no satisfied craving ever gave you. The holding itself turns out to be lighter than the being dragged.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna sets the deadline inside this lifetime. Not after death — here, while the body still holds. The word is soḍhum, to bear. Not to eliminate craving, not to never feel anger; to withstand the surge when it arrives and remain standing. Arjuna wants to be free of the fight. Krishna tells him the fight is the qualification. Every wave of wanting that rises in you and does not carry you off is the practice, completed. That is what yoked means. Krishna ends on a word you would not expect after all that restraint — sukhī, happy. The holding is not grim. It is where your gladness was waiting.