Bhagavad Gita 6.27
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 27 of 47
प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् | उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् ||२७||
praśāntamanasaṃ hy enaṃ yoginaṃ sukham uttamam | upaiti śāntarajasaṃ brahmabhūtam akalmaṣam || 27 ||
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
Word by word (3)
- praśānta-manasam enaṃ yoginam sukham uttamam upaiti
- — to this yogi of completely tranquil mind, the supreme bliss comes · praśānta = completely tranquil, utterly at peace (pra + śānta — the pra- prefix intensifies: not merely quiet but deeply, fully at peace). manas = mind. uttama-sukha = supreme bliss (the highest of all sukhas, above V21's ātyantika sukha — or V27 is describing the same state from the outside). upaiti = comes to, approaches (upa + √i, to go toward). The bliss doesn't have to be pursued — it comes to the tranquil mind. This passive reception is the contrast to ordinary striving: the yogi has stopped striving; bliss arrives.
- śānta-rajasam brahma-bhūtam akalmaṣam
- — whose rajas is quieted, who has become Brahman, freed from taint · śānta-rajas = whose passion/activity-force (rajas) has been quieted. rajas is the second of the three guṇas — the quality of passion, restlessness, desire-driven action. When rajas settles, the sattvic luminosity rises. brahma-bhūtam = become Brahman, identity-with-Brahman (not 'going to Brahman' but 'being Brahman' — the Advaita recognition). akalmaṣa = freed from taint, stainless (a-kalmaṣa — no impurity of ego-identification remains). These three phrases are the portrait of the V26 practitioner who has succeeded: quiet-rajas + brahma-identity + stainlessness.
- brahmabhūta (key concept)
- — Brahman-become — identity with the Absolute · brahma-bhūta is one of the Gita's most precise technical terms: not 'approaching Brahman' or 'thinking about Brahman' but literally 'become Brahman' — the state of identity-recognition. This is the Advaita state: the boundary between individual and Absolute dissolves through V20-26's practice. V27 is the fruit: the yogi doesn't attain brahma-bhūta as a future state — they recognise what they already are. The quieting of rajas and the removal of taint (akalmaṣa) are what allow this recognition to emerge from its concealment.
The highest bliss comes to the yogi whose mind is wholly at peace, whose passion is stilled, who is free of every stain and has become one with Brahman.
A modern analogy
A spring that has been blocked by debris — once the debris is cleared, the water flows naturally. The spring doesn't 'try' to flow; it flows because that is its nature. This verse's supreme bliss is like the spring: when rajas (restlessness, passion) is cleared and the taint of ego-identification is removed, the bliss that is the ātman's own nature flows naturally to/through the yogi.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT mean the yogi feels blissful as a constant emotional high. 'Uttama-sukha' (supreme bliss) is the natural state of the ātman uncovered — not an emotional experience added on top of ordinary consciousness, but the ground-state that emerges when the obscurations (rajas, taint) are removed.
Take with you
- This verse describes the state that the preceding meditation verses are building toward. When the practice of releasing desires, gradual quieting, and returning the wandering mind is sustained long enough, the rajas settles, and this verse's 'uttama-sukha comes naturally' becomes the practitioner's direct experience.
- The phrase 'upaiti' (it comes to) is significant: the yogi doesn't achieve bliss by more effort. After the right preparation — releasing desires, gradual quieting, returning the mind — bliss arrives. The transition from striving to receiving is itself a marker of this state.
- Brahma-bhūta in daily life: moments of deep stillness, clarity beyond normal happiness, a sense of being more than the personal self — these are glimpses of this verse's state. They point to what sustained practice reveals permanently.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
To this yogi of completely tranquil mind — whose rajas is quieted, who is brahma-bhūta, freed from taint — the supreme bliss comes. [1]
Verily, the supreme bliss comes to that Yogi, of perfectly tranquil mind, with passions quieted. Brahman-become, and freed from taint. [4]
The highest bliss comes to the Yogi whose mind is deeply tranquil, in whom passion is at rest, who is stainless, who has become Brahman. [5]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Wherever the restless, unsteady mind wanders — from there and there, bring it back under the Self's control. Every time.
The yogi, constantly engaging thus and freed from taint, attains infinite bliss of Brahman-contact — with ease.
Seers with sins destroyed, doubts cut, self-controlled, devoted to all beings' welfare — they attain brahma-nirvāṇa.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.
Brahman: seems to have all senses yet has none; unattached yet upholds all; nirguṇa yet the enjoyer of guṇas.
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.
Verse 27 of 47 · back to Chapter 6