या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī |
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.69)
“One who is well regulated is awake
In regard to that which is night for all beings.
That in which [all] beings are awake
Is night for a seeing sage.”
Commentary
sādhakāvasthasya sthita-prajñasyendriya-saṁyamaḥ prayatna-sādhya ity uktam | siddhāvasthasya tu tasya tan-niyamaḥ svābhāvika ity āha—yā niśeti | viviktātma-niṣṭhā viṣaya-niṣṭhā ceti buddhir dvividhā | yātma-niṣṭhā buddhiḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ niśā-rūpakeṇopamātra vyajyate rātri-tulyā tadvad aprakāśikā | rātrāv ivātma-niṣṭhāyāṁ buddhau svapanto janās tal-labhyam ātmānaṁ sarve nānubhavantīty arthaḥ | saṁyamī jitendriyas tu tasyāṁ jāgarti na tu svapiti | tayā labhyam ātmānam anubhavatīty arthaḥ | yasyāṁ viṣaya-niṣṭhāyāṁ buddhau bhūtāni jāgrati viṣaya-bhogān anubhavanti na tu tatra svapanti sā muneḥ sthita-prajñasya niśā | tasya viṣaya-bhogāprakāśikety arthaḥ | kīdṛśasyety āha paśyata iti | ātmānaṁ sākṣād anubhavataḥ prārabdhākṛṣṭān viṣayān apy audāsīnyena bhuñjānasya cety arthaḥ | nartakī-mūrdha-ghaṭāvadhāna-nyāyenātma-dṛṣṭer na tad-anya-rasa-graha iti bhāvaḥ |
(Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on BG 2.69)
“It has been stated that control of the senses is to be accomplished with effort for one of steady wisdom (sthita-prajña) who is in the stage of a practitioner (sādhaka). For one [of steady wisdom] in the stage of being accomplished (siddha), however, regulation of them [viz., the senses] is natural. Thus, he says yā niśā … [i.e., thus Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse]. Intellect (buddhi) can be of two types [i.e., it can function in two general modes of attunement]: (1) that of fixity in the discerned self and (2) that of fixity in objects of the senses. Intellect of fixity in the self, which a comparison here [in this verse] alludes to by way of the metaphor of ‘night for all beings’ (niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ), is like the night in that it, like that [i.e., like the night], is a non-illuminator [of the self for all beings in general]. [Thus, the sense is that] People are asleep, like at night, in regard to intellect of fixity in the self, meaning, they all do not experience the self, that which is to be attained by that [i.e., by means of intellect of fixity in the self]. One who is well regulated (saṁyamī), on the contrary, is awake, and not rather asleep, in regard to that [i.e., in regard to intellect of fixity in the self], meaning, one experiences the self, that which is attained by that [i.e., by means of such intellect of fixity in the self]. Intellect of fixity upon objects of the senses, in regard to which [all] beings are awake, meaning, by which they experience enjoyment of objects of the senses, and in regard to which they are not rather asleep, is night for the sage, that is, one of steady wisdom, meaning, for him, it is a non-illuminator of enjoyment of objects of the senses [i.e., one of steady wisdom does not experience the intellect function in the mode whereby it produces enjoyment of objects of the senses]. [Furthermore,] he [i.e., such a sage] is of what nature? [One may wonder.] Thus, he says paśyate … [i.e., thus Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes such a sage as ‘seeing’]. ‘Experiencing directly the self and enduring with neutrality even the objects of the senses drawn [to him] by commenced (prārabdha) [karma] is the meaning. In accord with the illustration of a dancer’s attention upon the pot atop her head, for one possessed of vision of the self, perception of a taste (rasa) other than that [i.e., other that that found in the self] does not occur. This is the purport [i.e., as a dancer’s attention remains upon the pot she is balancing atop her head even while she makes various other bodily movements in the course of a dance performance, so a sage, that is, one of steady wisdom (sthita-prajña), always remains aware of the self and experiences the fulfillment that comes from such awareness such that they remain neutral towards perception of objects of the senses, that is, they perceive them without attachment, aversion, or absorption because they perceive them to be devoid of any genuinely valuable aesthetic quality (rasa)].”