Chapter 2Verse 45 of 72

Bhagavad Gita 2.45

त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन । निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान् ॥

trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nis-trai-guṇyo bhavārjuna | nir-dvandvo nitya-sattva-stho nir-yoga-kṣema ātmavān ||

Translation

The Vedas deal with the three modes, O Arjuna. Be without the three modes, free from the pairs of opposites, ever-settled in purity, free from acquiring and protecting, and self-possessed.

Five instructions on one line, each a nis-: without. Without the three gunas. Without the pairs of opposites. Without acquiring and protecting. Then one positive: ātmavān, self-possessed. Krishna names the location from which the teaching he is offering can be taken up. Yoga-kṣema, the pair that means getting and keeping: the entire posture of the householder's anxiety about possessions. Step outside that posture. Not by leaving the house, by leaving the posture. The verse names a stance, not a relocation.

Reflection

Which posture of acquiring and protecting have you been carrying into rooms it was not made for?

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