Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 28
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः।।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः।।
yatendriya-mano-buddhir munir mokṣa-parāyaṇaḥ vigatecchā-bhaya-krodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ
also searched as "yatendriya mano buddhir munir moksha parayanah"
Translation
The sage who has controlled his senses, mind, and intellect, who is intent on release as his final goal, freed forever from desire, fear, and wrath, is indeed liberated forever.
Vāṇi's rendering
Senses, mind, and understanding reined, set on freedom, craving and fear and anger gone — free already.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिःyata-indriya-mano-buddhiḥ | one whose senses, mind and discerning understanding are reined in (yata + indriya joins as yatendriya) |
| मुनिःmuniḥ | the silent one, the sage |
| मोक्षपरायणःmokṣa-parāyaṇaḥ | having freedom as the one thing he is set on |
| विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधःvigata-icchā-bhaya-krodhaḥ | one from whom craving, fear and anger have departed (vigata + icchā joins as vigatecchā) |
| यःyaḥ | who |
| सदाsadā | always |
| मुक्तःmuktaḥ | free, released |
| एवeva | indeed, already |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 28 mean?
It describes someone whose senses, mind and understanding are held steady, who wants freedom above all else, and in whom craving, fear and anger have burned out. Krishna's claim is that such a person is not on the way to liberation. He is free now, in this body, in the middle of ordinary life.
What does yatendriya mano buddhir munir moksha parayanah teach?
That freedom begins with the reins, not with escape. Senses pull, mind follows, the understanding rationalises the pull. When all three are gathered and pointed at one thing — mokṣa — the pulling stops. The muni is not silent because he has fled noise. He is silent because nothing inside him is shouting.
Why does the verse name desire, fear and anger together?
Because they are one movement in three costumes. Craving reaches for what is not here; fear guards against losing what is; anger erupts when either is blocked. Loosen the reaching and the other two lose their fuel. Krishna does not ask you to fight all three. He points at the root of them.
Can I be free while still working and fighting my battles?
That is precisely what Krishna is telling Arjuna, who is standing between two armies. Freedom here is not a change of location or of duty. It is a change in what has hold of you. Same field, same work, same day — and no rope running from any of it to your chest.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Already. That is the word to catch. Krishna does not say the sage will be freed when the body drops or the war ends — he says such a person is free now, mid-life, mid-battle. Nothing outward has changed. The reins are the change: senses held, mind held, the understanding that decides held. And what leaves when they are held is exact — craving, fear, anger, the three that make a life feel like a cage. Arjuna wants release from the field. Krishna shows him a man standing on that same field, unbound. You do not walk out of your circumstances into freedom. You stop being pulled by them.