BG 2.54 — Sāṅkhya-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 2.54Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।

स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥

sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhi-sthasya keśava

sthita-dhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Arjuna asks: what marks a person of steady wisdom, Keśava, one whose mind rests in samādhi? How does such a person speak, sit, and move?

ekras · bhāṣya

The question itself is precise. Bhasha means more than language; it means the identifying mark by which one is known.

Madhva reads it as the lakshana, the defining sign. Arjuna asks: what is the sign of the sthita-prajna? How would I recognize one if I met one? Madhusudana catches Arjuna's instinct exactly. Having heard 2.53's description of the buddhi achala in samadhi, Arjuna seizes the labhdhavasara — the opening — to ask about the jivanmukta, the one liberated while still alive. He correctly senses that the marks of the already-free will be the same marks the practitioner is being asked to cultivate. The question is therefore practical, not theoretical. If I am to walk this path, what does the destination look like in a body? The three verbs Arjuna lists — prabhasheta, asita, vrajeta — speak, sit, walk — cover the whole external life. Not just the meditative state, but how such a one carries himself in ordinary motion.

Krishna's answer will run for eighteen verses. The chapter that began with Arjuna's collapse closes with Arjuna's most useful question. The student is now asking the right thing.

Context

where

Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Arjuna

preceded by — BG 2.53

When your intellect, once pulled every direction by scripture's competing promises, grows still and settles unshaken into meditation, you will have attained yoga.

What's going on

Arjuna asks: what marks a person of steady wisdom, Keśava, one whose mind rests in samādhi? How does such a person speak, sit, and move?

Sūtras through this verse (111)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

2.18'Imperishable' is said to mark off the Lord.───→here2.54───→4.24Every word for ritual points back to Viṣṇu.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.───→here2.54───→4.23Clinging to anything is what binds you.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.───→here2.54───→3.3Three classes, one niṣṭhā each.

show all 111

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

2.18Image perishes, source endures───→here2.54───→4.13Creates yet uncreated

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

2.20The soul is conscious but only as reflection.───→here2.54───→3.27Action is the modes'; the soul only seems to act.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

2.52Higher devotion earns higher liberation.───→here2.54───→4.6Avatāras differ in their fullness of Hari.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.───→here2.54───→2.72Body-loss in the verse is only material body.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.───→here2.54───→4.13He creates and yet is uncreated by it.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

2.50Six texts in thirty lines carry the long excursus.───→here2.54───→2.72The verse closes with the Akṣapāda rejection.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

2.49Action without wisdom is the lower zone.───→here2.54───→3.3Two registers, one task, told two ways.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.───→here2.54───→2.55Steady wisdom is what direct vision produces.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.50Even in liberation grace remains the agent.───→here2.54───→2.72Many lives of bhakti precede the final crossing.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.24When two scriptures clash the higher one rules.───→here2.54───→2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here2.54───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here2.54───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here2.54───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva───→here2.54───→6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

2.50Thumb. Kausalam. 'Yogah karmasu kausalam' is the line Gaurav opens the whole mne───→here2.54───→3.27Palm, kartala. Akartritva, non-doership. 'Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani s

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralbetween

2.27'Jatasya hi dhruvo mrityur dhruvam janma mritasya cha.' Death is certain for the───→here2.54───→8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

2.22'Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya' — body as worn-out clothes. Sister verse to 2.13,───→here2.54───→3.27Karma pillar. The 'ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate' line is where Gaura

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit, nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah, ajo nityah sh───→here2.54───→6.20'Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yoga-sevaya, yatra chaivatmana'tmanam pashyann

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

2.11The wise mourn neither the living nor the dead.───→here2.54───→2.69Ignorance is night, wisdom alone wakes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here2.54───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.───→here2.54───→3.1If insight is higher, why this dreadful work?

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.───→here2.54───→2.69Action holds only while ignorance still holds.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here2.54───→3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sidebetween

2.24Uncuttable, unburnt, steady, all-pervading.───→here2.54───→13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

2.24No jaḍa-property fits the dehin.───→here2.54───→7.5Higher prakṛti is Lakṣmī, not matter.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.───→here2.54───→2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.───→here2.54───→2.72Chapter closes here; upasaṁharati names it.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

2.50Smṛti runs nine citations deep.───→here2.54───→2.62Smṛti pins each link of the chain.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

2.50Nanu opens, smṛti runs nine deep.───→here2.54───→3.17No-kartavya rival staged then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.───→here2.54───→3.15If literal works, figurative is idle.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.50Each chain closes with iti śeṣaḥ.───→here2.54───→2.68Supply marks the chapter-seal gap.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

2.47Only a human body can do new action.───→here2.54───→3.5No one can stop acting even for a moment.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

2.47Even renouncing has three flavors.───→here2.54───→3.27The modes act, ego claims to do.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

2.33Refusal is not safe; it costs everything.───→here2.54───→3.35Your own flawed work beats another's perfect.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.───→here2.54───→7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here2.54───→5.18See a sage, a cow, a dog as one.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here2.54───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here2.54───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here2.54───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here2.54───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here2.54───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here2.54───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here2.54───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here2.54───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here2.54───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here2.54───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here2.54───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here2.54───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here2.54───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here2.54───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

2.47Right to action───→here2.54───→3.3Two paths, named

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.54───→8.5Last-thought rule

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

2.22Worn-out garments───→here2.54───→4.16Even the wise are confused

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here2.54───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here2.54───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.───→here2.54───→2.55Same words: fruit for one, means for one.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

2.47Four objections in one paragraph. Anchor.───→here2.54───→7.1Doubt about refuge, blocked by mad-āśraya.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologybetween

2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.───→here2.54───→3.3Vaidika action sorted by life-stage rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhibetween

2.48Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi: stand and act.───→here2.54───→3.4No mokṣa from mere non-starting.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here2.54───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.───→here2.54───→3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here2.54───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here2.54───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here2.54───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here2.54───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here2.54───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here2.54───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here2.54───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind───→here2.54───→3.30Offer all your acts

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.───→here2.54───→3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.───→here2.54───→5.4Only the foolish call the two paths different.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

2.16Real and unreal sort into pure and impure.───→here2.54───→7.4Lower nature is eight-fold; higher is the soul-collective.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here2.54───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here2.54───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.───→here2.54───→3.3Arjuna's mixed question gets a sorted answer.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

2.47The unready can only act, not yet know.───→here2.54───→3.30Even a seeker not-yet-pure offers, drops fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.───→here2.54───→3.30Offer all your acts; fight without fruit-claim.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.───→here2.54───→2.69The knower wakes to what the world sleeps to.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

2.11Anchor: two confusions — one universal, one yours alone.───→here2.54───→11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here2.54───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here2.54───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here2.54───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here2.54───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here2.54───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga split: not two methods, two angles.───→here2.54───→7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.───→here2.54───→3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.───→here2.54───→3.3Two paths, one orientation toward Me.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here2.54───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here2.54───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

2.11Confusing self with body is the source of grief.───→here2.54───→13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingbetween

2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.───→here2.54───→3.3One path, two grades: impure, then pure mind.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here2.54───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here2.54───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.───→here2.54───→3.1Knowing versus acting is the wrong cut.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.───→here2.54───→7.12Modes from the Lord — the Lord not in them.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.───→here2.54───→8.3Brahman, ātman, all facets of one Lord.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here2.54───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here2.54───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here2.54───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.───→here2.54───→3.3Action without claim = worship.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here2.54───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here2.54───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

Śabda · lemmas (17 unique · 25 occurrences)

उवाच √vac ×3 — to speak (verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person singular verb
भाषा bhāṣā — speech, language (from √bhāṣ) · nominative feminine singular noun
प्रभाषेत pra-√bhāṣ — to speak forth, declare (pra- + √bhāṣ) · present optative 3rd person singular verb
प्रश्न praśna — question (from √pracch) · compound
लक्षण lakṣaṇa — characteristic, mark, definition · compound
केशव keśava — having long hair (epithet of Kṛṣṇa) · vocative masculine singular noun

show all 17

अर्जुनः arjuna ×3 — Arjuna (the third Pāṇḍava); also: white, bright · nominative masculine singular noun
समाधि samādhi ×2 — absorption, deep meditative union (sam- + ā- + √dhā 'placing-completely-together') · compound / compound masculine (compound member) · also at 4.24, 6.20
प्रज्ञस्य prajñā ×2 — wisdom, insight, discriminating intelligence · genitive masculine singular noun
स्थित √sthā ×2 — to stand, remain (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
का·किम् ka ×2 — who? what? (interrogative) · nominative feminine singular noun / accusative neuter singular noun
बीजम् bīja — seed · accusative neuter singular noun
प्रतिलभ्य pratilabh — (prati- + labh: to obtain) · conv
लब्ध √labh — to obtain, get (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member)
बुभुत्सया bubhutsā — desire to know (desid. of √budh) · instrumental feminine singular noun
स्थस्य stha — standing, situated (suffix) · genitive masculine singular noun
धीः dhī — thought, intellect, intuition · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Why does Arjuna ask for bhāṣā — a linguistic/identifying mark — rather than simply asking 'who is a wise person?' What does the choice of this word reveal about what he thinks wisdom actually is?
02Arjuna asks three questions in sequence: how the sthitaprajña speaks, how he sits, how he moves. Is this a single question in three registers, or are the inner life and outer conduct genuinely separable? What does the answer imply about embodied wisdom?

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03Every school reads 'Keśava' as a deliberate vocative — not mere address but a theological claim about who can answer. What is Arjuna conceding by choosing this name, and how does that concession shape the teaching that follows?
04Śaṅkara insists that in adhyātma-śāstra the marks of the accomplished and the practices of the aspirant are the same. If this is true, what are the consequences for how we understand spiritual discipline — is practice always imitation of a completed state?
05Madhusūdana's distinction between samādhistha and vyutthita states within a single liberated person implies that freedom is compatible with ordinary mental activity. How does this challenge or enrich the common picture of the enlightened person as perpetually serene?
06The verse is entirely a question — not a declaration. What does it mean that the second chapter's most celebrated teaching (the sthitaprajña portrait) is introduced by Arjuna's curiosity, not Kṛṣṇa's instruction? Who is really the teacher here?
07Madhva insists Arjuna already knows the answer but asks to draw it out formally, for the sake of those with contracted understanding. What does it mean to ask a question you already know the answer to — and is this a form of teaching, devotion, or both?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before entering a difficult conversation — a confrontation, a negotiation, a hard feedback — pause and ask 'sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā': what would the mark of a person with settled, non-reactive intelligence look like here? This is not a performance checklist but an orienting inquiry that shifts the question from 'what should I say?' to 'who am I speaking from?' The Advaita reading makes this radical: you are not rehearsing a role but pointing attention back to the awareness that is already untouched by the outcome.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In the Viśiṣṭādvaita application, treat each role you occupy — parent, professional, citizen — as a form of kainkarya (dedicated service) and ask Arjuna's question about your own actions: 'what is the identifying mark of how I do this?' Not to manufacture a persona but to check whether your actions genuinely express loving attentiveness to the people in your care, the way a devotee's actions express attentiveness to Bhagavān. The quality of your bhāṣā — how you speak, move, and sit with others — is the living answer to this question every day.

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Dvaita

Madhva's reading directs you to ask hard questions in public settings even when you already suspect the answer — for the benefit of others who do not yet have access to the deeper reasoning. In practice: when your team is about to make a decision based on shallow analysis, ask the foundational question aloud ('what is actually our criterion here?') even if you see it clearly. The Dvaita principle is that the mark of Hari's governance (keśavata) in your life is your willingness to name what is actually true, plainly, regardless of who in the room finds it uncomfortable.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga application: notice the moments when you feel most naturally yourself — neither performing competence nor suppressing feeling, simply present and alive. That state is the samādhi Arjuna is asking about, Kṛṣṇa's prasāda already operative in you. The everyday practice is to recognise these moments as you move through them rather than only in retrospect, so that gradually anuṣṭhāna-prakāra (the mode of living that flows from grace) becomes visible to you in real time rather than only in quiet reflection.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's jijñāsu framing invites a specific daily discipline: begin any study or important conversation by explicitly naming what you want to understand, as Arjuna does here. The act of formulating a real question — not a rhetorical question, not a test, but a genuine inquiry into someone's lakṣaṇa — transforms the encounter from information exchange into a relationship. In bhakti practice this is literal: approach the text, the teacher, the interlocutor with 'I am here to understand what marks this truth, not merely to collect data about it.'

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's two-state model (samādhi and vyutthita) gives a practical diagnostic for your own inner life: notice when you are genuinely absorbed (thoughts quiet, presence full) versus when the mind has 'emerged' and is managing stimuli. The advaita-bhakti application is to treat Kṛṣṇa — your own deepest intelligence, the sarvāntaryāmin — as the one you are really addressing in both states, not only in formal meditation. The question 'kiṃ āsīta vrajeta kiṃ' (how do you sit, how do you move?) becomes a continuous inquiry into whether your daily locomotive and relational life is oriented from that absorbed centre or from reactive mental management.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

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weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 54: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga