Bhagavad Gita 2.71
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 71 of 72
विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः । निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति ॥
vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān pumāṃś carati niḥspṛhaḥ | nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ sa śāntim adhigacchati ||
Move through the world free from longing, free from 'mine,' free from ego — that is how peace is reached.
Word by word (3)
- vihāya kāmān sarvān
- — having abandoned all desires · Vihāya from vi+hā (to leave behind, to abandon completely). Sarvān = all, without exception. This verse does not contradict V70's ocean image — it describes the same reality from the inside. V70 shows the sage receiving desires without being moved; V71 shows the sage who has shed identification with desires. Both describe the same freedom.
- nirmamaḥ nirahaṃkāraḥ
- — free from 'mine' and free from ego · Nir+mama = without 'mine' (mama = mine/my). Nir+ahaṃkāra = without ego-sense (ahaṃ = I, kāra = maker — the 'I-maker'). These two releases are described together because they are inseparable: the sense of 'mine' (possessiveness) and the sense of 'I' (separate doer) arise from the same root — the false identification with the body-mind complex.
- śāntim adhigacchati
- — attains / reaches peace · Adhigacchati from adhi+gam (to go toward, to attain, to reach). Peace is arrived at — it is a destination reached through the inner work described. Not passive arrival but active attainment through the release of desire, possessiveness, and ego.
The person who moves through the world having abandoned all desires, free from longing, without possessiveness ('mine'), without ego ('I') — that person attains peace.
A modern analogy
Someone who travels lightly — no heavy bag of 'my things,' 'my status,' 'my image to protect.' They can engage fully with each place, each person, each moment — because nothing is being defended, nothing is being accumulated. Nirmama (no 'mine') + nirahaṃkāra (no 'I-maker') = radical inner lightness. The peace is not the reward of having nothing — it is the natural condition of not clinging.
Take with you
- The two roots of suffering are identified precisely: 'mine' (possessiveness) and 'I' (ego). Both are released together.
- Nirmama begins with small experiments: holding your opinions lightly, your possessions lightly, your identity lightly.
- Nirahaṃkāra doesn't mean no personality — it means the identity is not defended. You can be fully yourself without needing to protect 'yourself.'
- Peace (śānti) is what remains when these two heavy loads are set down — not manufactured, but uncovered.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
That man who, abandoning all desires, lives and moves free from longing, without 'mine,' without ego — that man attains peace. [1]
He who abandons all desires and lives and moves free from longing, without the sense of 'I' and 'mine' — that man attains peace. [4]
That man who lives free from desires, free from the sense of 'mine' and from ego — that man attains peace. [6]
Who, having cast off all desires, moveth Through this world free from longing, Without a mine, without an I — such Hath peace: he hath attained. [7]
That man who moves about in the world, having abandoned all longings, free from longing, without mine, without ego — he attains happiness. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All desires pour into the sage like rivers into the ocean — the ocean stays unmoved. That is peace.
This is the Brahmic state. Attain it and you are never again deluded. Even at death — liberation.
Surrender all action to Me, mind on the Self, free from hope and possessiveness — then fight, free from fever.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
Content with what comes by chance, beyond opposites, free from envy — equal in success and failure, not bound.
Equal to enemy and friend, honor and dishonor, cold and heat, pleasure and pain — free from all attachment!
Verse 71 of 72 · back to Chapter 2