Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 21
सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद्बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम्।
वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वतः।।
वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वतः।।
sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṁ sthitaś calati tattvataḥ
also searched as "sukham atyantikam yat tad buddhi grahyam atindriyam"
Translation
Where one knows that infinite happiness which can be grasped by the intellect but is beyond the reach of the senses, and is established in that condition, one does not swerve from it.
Vāṇi's rendering
There is a joy past the senses, known only by the clear mind. Taste it once, and you never leave truth.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सुखम्sukham | happiness, joy |
| आत्यन्तिकम्ātyantikaṁ | utmost, without end |
| यत्yat | which |
| तत्tad | that |
| बुद्धिग्राह्यम्buddhi-grāhyam | grasped by the clear mind alone |
| अतीन्द्रियम्atīndriyam | beyond the reach of the senses |
| वेत्तिvetti | knows, tastes |
| यत्रyatra | where, in which state |
| नna | not |
| चca | and (sandhi: ca + eva + ayaṁ) |
| एवeva | indeed, at all |
| अयम्ayaṁ | this one |
| स्थितःsthitaś | settled, standing firm |
| चलतिcalati | wanders away, slips |
| तत्त्वतःtattvataḥ | from what is real; from the truth |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 21 mean?
It names the reward of stillness. There is a happiness the senses cannot deliver and cannot take away — ātyantika, without end. Only the settled mind can receive it. And Krishna adds the proof: once it is known, the one who knows it does not drift back from the truth. The taste itself holds you.
What does sukham atyantikam yat tad buddhi grahyam atindriyam teach?
That the finest joy is not sensory at all. Atīndriyam means it lies past eye and tongue entirely, so no amount of arranging your life will produce it. Buddhi-grāhyam means the clear, quiet mind can hold it directly. This is why meditation is not deprivation — it is going where the good thing actually is.
How can happiness be beyond the senses if all my pleasures come through them?
Notice that sense-pleasures all end, and most of them end in wanting more. Krishna is not denying them; he is pointing past them. What remains when the senses go quiet is not blankness. Something is there, and it is steady. You will not believe this by argument. Only by sitting.
Why does the verse say such a person never swerves from the truth?
Because nothing else competes. We wander only when something looks better elsewhere. Once this joy is tasted, every substitute is seen for what it costs. Firmness here is not willpower gripping hard — it is simply having no reason to leave. Steadiness becomes the natural shape of your day.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is describing a joy with no opposite. Every pleasure you have known arrived through a gate — eye, tongue, skin — and left the way it came. This one has no gate. The clear mind meets it directly, and the senses are not even informed. Arjuna wants to know why a person would sit still for years; here is the reason. Not discipline for its own sake, but something worth staying for. And the test is simple: whoever has tasted it does not wander. You already know how food ends, and praise ends. Sit long enough to find what does not.