Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 5, Verse 9
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन्।।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन्।।
pralapan visṛjan gṛhṇann unmiṣan nimiṣann api indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta iti dhārayan
also searched as "pralapan visrjan grhnann unmisan nimisann api"
Translation
Speaking, discharging, grasping, opening, and closing his eyes, etc., he should always bear in mind that the senses operate among sense-objects.
Vāṇi's rendering
Speaking, releasing, grasping, even blinking — he knows it is only the senses moving among their objects.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| प्रलपन्pralapan | speaking, talking |
| विसृजन्visṛjan | releasing, letting go, giving up |
| गृह्णन्gṛhṇan | grasping, taking hold of (sandhi: gṛhṇann before unmiṣan) |
| उन्मिषन्unmiṣan | opening the eyes |
| निमिषन्nimiṣan | closing the eyes, blinking (sandhi: nimiṣann before api) |
| अपिapi | even, also |
| इन्द्रियाणिindriyāṇi | the senses (sandhi: indriyāṇī before the next word) |
| इन्द्रियार्थेषुindriyārtheṣu | among the objects of the senses |
| वर्तन्तेvartante | move, operate, are engaged (sandhi: vartanta before iti) |
| इतिiti | thus, that this is so |
| धारयन्dhārayan | holding, bearing in mind |
Frequently asked
Why does Krishna include something as trivial as blinking in this verse?
Because blinking is the act nobody can pretend to own. It happens whether you attend to it or not. By placing it beside speech and giving, Krishna shows that all activity has the same character — the senses moving among their objects. The trivial example teaches the large one.
Does this verse mean I am not responsible for what I do?
No. The verse describes a way of seeing, not an excuse. The one who holds this understanding is still speaking, still giving, still acting — and acting well. What drops away is the private claim of ownership over the doing, not the doing itself.
What does dharayan mean here?
It means holding, keeping steadily in mind. It is not a thought you have once and file away. It is a view carried through the middle of activity, while the hands are still busy — which is why the verse names ordinary actions rather than moments of stillness.
How does this connect to karma yoga in Chapter 5?
Chapter 5 argues that renunciation and action are not opposites. This verse shows why: the renunciation that matters happens inside the act, not instead of it. You keep working. You stop treating each movement as a possession.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice where the list ends. Speaking, releasing, grasping — and then blinking, the smallest thing a body does, the thing you have never once decided to do. Krishna puts it in the same sentence as speech and giving, because the point is not the size of the act. It is who is claiming it. The senses move among their objects the way the eye closes: on their own. Arjuna wants to know how a man can act and remain unstained. Here it is — not by acting less, but by dropping the I from the ten thousand small movements you never authored anyway.