Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 26
कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्।।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्।।
kāma-krodha-viyuktānāṁ yatīnāṁ yata-cetasām
abhito brahma-nirvāṇaṁ vartate viditātmanām
also searched as "kama krodha viyuktanam yatinam yata chetasam"
Translation
To those who are free from desire and wrath, who are accustomed to exerting themselves, whose thoughts are controlled, and who have conquered it—the beatitude of Brahman is close at hand.
Vāṇi's rendering
For those free of craving and anger, minds ruled, self known — that freedom lies close on every side.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कामkāma | craving, desire |
| क्रोधkrodha | anger |
| वियुक्तानाम्viyuktānām | of those cut loose from, disjoined from |
| यतीनाम्yatīnām | of those who strive, the self-restrained |
| यतyata | held, governed, reined in |
| चेतसाम्cetasām | of those whose minds (are so held) |
| अभितःabhitaḥ | on every side, all around, close at hand (abhitaḥ becomes abhito before the following b) |
| ब्रह्मbrahma | the boundless, Brahman |
| निर्वाणम्nirvāṇam | the cooling, the going out of the fire — freedom |
| वर्ततेvartate | exists, is present, lies |
| विदितvidita | known, found out |
| आत्मनाम्ātmanām | of those whose self (is thus known); joined as viditātmanām |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 26 mean?
It means freedom is not a destination. Krishna says brahma-nirvāṇa lies abhitaḥ — on every side — for the one released from craving and anger, whose mind is reined and whose self is known. Nothing is fetched from far away. What was hiding the nearness was the mind's own churning, and that can stop.
What does kama krodha viyuktanam yatinam yata chetasam teach?
That craving and anger are one pair, not two problems. Kāma reaches for what is missing; krodha strikes at what has come. Both fling the mind outward. The yatī is simply one who has stopped both throws. Then the mind is yata — held — and what remains is not effort but nearness.
Why is this verse listed under courage?
Because refusing anger takes more nerve than expressing it. Arjuna's battlefield is full of reasons to rage and reasons to want. To stand there wanting nothing and hating no one is not weakness; it is the hardest posture a person can hold. Krishna promises that whoever holds it is already surrounded by freedom.
How do I actually free myself from desire and anger?
Not by fighting them — that is another agitation. Watch where they begin. Every craving is a story that peace lies elsewhere; every anger is a story that this moment should not have come. Doubt the story, not the feeling. The feeling passes on its own once you stop feeding it a reason.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Abhitaḥ — on every side. Not ahead of you, not at the end of some long road. Krishna places freedom all around the one who has quieted craving and anger, the way water surrounds a swimmer who stops thrashing. Two things throw the mind outward: wanting what is absent, and raging at what is present. Remove them and nothing has to be reached. Arjuna keeps asking how far he must go. The answer is that the distance was made of his own agitation. Stop the two motions, and you will find you were never outside the thing you were looking for.