Summary:
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 19: Liberation is won here, now – not after death or in some future place, since the Self is whole and timeless, requiring no incremental understanding. Consciousness pervades every being fully, just as space pervades every container without division. The wise see Brahman equally in the saint and the criminal, while the ignorant — like Hiranyakashipu and Ravana – either deny their helplessness or attempt to override the laws governing reality. Atma is flawless by nature, so ultimately, no one is truly a sinner or saint.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 20: The wise person holds firm, unshakeable knowledge distinguishing self from non-self, free from mistaking awareness for the doer or enjoyer. Likes are not suppressed but re-examined: every object inevitably departs, gives limited joy, and changes in its capacity to please – and each fulfilled desire immediately births another. True completeness comes from assimilated knowledge of being limitless and whole, so objects lose their grip. The wise neither rejoice nor resent outcomes, recognizing Ishvara as the author of results, not themselves.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 19:
Wise person’s vision towards other people
इह एव तैः जितः सर्गः येषाम् साम्ये स्थितम् मनः ।
निर्दोषम् हि समम् ब्रह्म तस्मात् ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ॥ ५-१९॥
iha eva taiḥ jitaḥ sargaḥ yeṣām sāmye sthitam manaḥ ।
nirdoṣam hi samam brahma tasmāt brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ॥ 5-19॥
The cycle of birth and death (saṁsāra) is won over here itself (in this life) by those whose mind is rooted in that which is the same in everything (that is in Brahman). Since Brahman, that is free from any defect, is (always) the same, they (the wise people) abide in Brahman.
“Birth and death is won over here (in this life)…”
Krishna explicitly states cycle of birth and death [saṁsāra] is won over here, meaning in this life, while in this body.
Mokṣa is not after death, or at some place – it is always now. Even if you go to brahma-loka, moksha is still NOW. Liberation happens at the moment of understanding, and that moment is always now.
You can't say 234 days in the future NOW, is different then today's NOW. Because when 234 days is due, that will become the new NOW. Additionally, you are not understanding something that is away from NOW.
Furthermore, unlike apara-vidya (knowledge about mithya forms) which is made of parts, and whose knowledge is slowly built up over time – the self is one whole. So there's no question of taking time to understand the Self little by little. For instance, you can't say “Today, my understanding the Self is 45% complete. I'll finish my other 55% when I get to brahma-loka!”. As far as taking time to understand, that time is always in reference to removing opposing notions of the self.
Lastly, if self were bound, then so would God, the one who removes bondage, since God’s truth is also self. Meaning, atma isn't bound now. So there's no point waiting for some special place in the future, where I'll have better tools to break the chains off of atma.
“…whose mind is rooted in that which is the same in everything…”
The metaphor of space helps explains “same in everything”:
The undivided space remains undivided while obtaining throughout the stomach, every room, the sky. You won't find better quality, or bigger space inside a bucket, then inside a cup. In both cases, the bucket and cup are inside the space. Thus space is not divided or diminished by the containers it fills.
Similarly…
Atma is one, whole and undivided (meaning: all-pervading, nowhere where it's not).
Atma (consciousness) manifests in every intellect at 100%, and at all times. Meaning, there's never a time when consciousness is 99.95% available in your intellect for example; it's always available 100% in your buddhi.
Consciousness pervades every intellect and every being just as space pervades every container. The only difference is, space is different from what is accommodates. For instance, chair is not space, and space is not the chair. However both chair and space are consciousness.
Just as you find all-pervasive space wherever you go – so too is consciousness everywhere.
Therefore, unlike the unwise person's vision which is rooted in forms/divisions, the wise person's vision is rooted in Brahman, that which is present in all forms equally.
Although the jnani still acknowledges differences in forms. For example, one is able to look at a person who has turned to crime (dog eater) and recognize that one deviation in thought led to another. Unlike the unwise, the wise also sees that the “criminal”, just like the “saint” (brahmana) – is guided by the spokes of the wheel (Ishvara's laws) and supported by the center hub (Brahman).
Ignorance of the Laws (Spokes) and Its Consequences
Ignorance of the spokes and the center hub causes complexes in people, such as an inferiority or superiority complex, or a habit of comparison. From there, one has to compensate for one's life not working out by telling themselves a comfortable story.
Three Types of Responses While Ignorant of the Spokes (Laws)
1. Frantically controlling things, not knowing you don't author the results.
Some people are in denial of their helplessness, so they create an illusion of control – “you are in charge of your destiny; design your life in any way you want.” They frantically try to control their environment and the people around them, not knowing they are not in control of the results.
The archetypal examples of this are Hiranyakashipu and Ravana.
Hiranyakashipu, from Bhagavata Purana, who performed intense austerities to receive a boon of near-immortality. He was so afraid of death that he tried to account for every possible variable. He could not be killed by human or animal, indoors or outdoors, by day or by night, on the ground or in the air, by any weapon.
He believed that if he could eliminate every contingency, he could author his own survival. Yet Vishnu arrived as Narasimha – a form that fell outside every category Hiranyakashipu accounted for.
Narasimha was neither totally human nor totally animal, at twilight, at the doorstep (neither inside nor outside), killing him using his claws. Ishvara still found a gap; because nobody knows Ishara’s order better then Ishvara.
Ravana similarly had immense power and knowledge – he was a great scholar of the Vedas – yet he believed his strength and intelligence could override the order to suit his fancies. He kidnapped Sita, dismissed every warning, and refused counsel even from his own brother Vibhishana. He knew the laws, and yet refused to accept his place within them; thinking they only apply to others. That refusal cost him everything.
2. The rational, practical person.
This person focuses on things where their locus of control lies. They do not waste energy trying to control what is beyond them.
3. The devotee.
When helpless, the devotee recognizes their helplessness and asks for help. This is adding a new cause to the field.
Conclusion
The more you recognize realities, the more you can properly work with them. If you don't have the laws (spokes) and Brahman (hub) in your life, then forms will continue to shake you – because that is all you have.
“…free from any defect, is always the same…”
Any quality/form changes. Add something to it, take something away, or just wait long enough, and it changes on its own. But ātmā has no qualities to change. Kṛṣṇa describes ātmā as nirdoṣa – free from any defect or blemish, or attribute.
This also means, because consciousness isn’t made of parts – there’s nothing, no defect/attribute, that can be taken away from it – and thus can’t be added onto.
Additionally, nothing in the universe, not even Ishvara, can remove it or put it away into some place (space) – because everything is Atma's effect. An effect can never cover or remove the cause, because the effect is made out of the cause. For instance, Ocean can't remove the “wave”… as wave's truth is water… the same substance that “Ocean” is made of. Where will the wave go, then back into the very same Ocean!
Here's a question worth sitting with: when you call someone a sinner, who exactly are you pointing at? The body can't act by itself. The senses/mind are just tools. So who's left? You end up pointing at ātmā – and ātmā is flawless by nature. So no one is a sinner nor a saint. They’re merely transactional words.
NEXT VERSE: How jnani deals with challenges in one’s own life?
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 20:
How wise person deals with challenges coming their way
न प्रहृष्येत् प्रियम् प्राप्य न उद्विजेत् प्राप्य च अप्रियम् ।
स्थिर-बुद्धिः असम्मूढः ब्रह्मवित् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥ ५-२०॥
na prahṛṣyet priyam prāpya na udvijet prāpya ca apriyam ।
sthira-buddhiḥ asammūḍhaḥ brahmavit brahmaṇi sthitaḥ ॥ 5-20॥
The one who knows Brahman, who is established in Brahman, whose knowledge is firm, and who is free from delusion, would not rejoice over gaining that which is desirable nor would he resent gaining that which is not likeable.
“…whose knowledge is firm, and free from delusion…”
Meaning, the wise is cognitively perceiving the single, attribute-free reality that underlies all apparent difference.
If there’s a single thing to know in all things, then there can’t be delusion in reference to anything.
Such person has firm knowledge [Sthira-Buddhi] in reference to what is atma and what is anatma. Such knowledge can’t be shaken in any situation, at any time – thus it’s firm.
Śaṅkara compliments firm-knowledge with word nirvicikitsā – free from doubt. Which means, reality is free from vagueness; thus no possibility of delusion.
For instance, you no longer mistake ātmā for the doer [kartā] or the enjoyer [bhoktā], nor do you imagine it to be something located somewhere, different from everything else. This is what it means to be free from delusion [asammūḍha].
This verse sums up the wise person in four words: sthira-buddhiḥ, asammūḍhaḥ, brahmavit, brahmaṇi sthitaḥ – firm in knowledge, free from delusion, knowing Brahman, established in Brahman. And they are all understood in the next statement…
“The wise (brahmavit) does not rejoice [na prahṛṣyet] over gaining that which is desirable [priyam]”
Kṛṣṇa is not setting down rules or mandating behaviour how one is to act. He is saying that one’s ragas (likes) are managed. This isn’t disassociation from objects, but re-examinining what object can do and not do for you.
Re-assessing value of objects reduces unnatural overdependency on them, which is when you’ve told yourself, “without this object, I’m incomplete” – thus you can’t stand its absence, since your pleased-self is invoked in its presence. Consequently you associate pleased-self to the object.
Drk-drsya-viveka backs this up, saying, “Everything is dear”. Meaning, every object is dear to someone, because it has capacity to invoke a pleased-self.
So let's re-examine the nature of objects to help us enjoy a healthy relationship to them, and reduce any unnatural dependence…
Yes, every object is capable of giving a pleased-self, but recognize that:
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- Object will eventually go away.
- Object can only give a little joy.
- Your relationship to object will eventually change.
- Object’s state or pleasant-ability (ability to give pleasantness) will change, which will change your desirability towards it. You’re ultimately having a relationship with clouds.
- You can see that object like any other from childhood, where you naturally grew out of it, and objects presence or absence didn’t bother you anymore.
- Understand, the moment a desire is fulfilled, immediately comes pain of another unfulfilled desire.
- Each time you curb the need to do what you fancy with what needs to be done, and you do it many times, it becomes spontaneous-easy because of reinforced samskara. Knowing that you’re stronger than your fancies alone gives priceless joy. And the joy of self-mastery also contributes to jnani’s overall happiness, which came from deliberate attempts to keep putting mind back on what needs to be done. Though jnani isn’t a karma-yogi anymore; however they exude traits of a karma-yogi due to past habits.
Having concluded nothing will give me worthwhile happiness, where does happiness come for a jnani?
From assimilated knowledge knowing I am all-pervasive, limitless, immortal, complete. Thus objects (pleasure opportunities) lose their hold over you. The person who is least affected by a situation, is most effective in the situation. Things not going your way have no more power to shake you.
“…neither does wise person resent [na udvijet] that which is undesirable [apriyam]”
This is because the jnani recognizes, I (whether “I” refers to awareness or body-mind instrument), am not the author of results; Ishvara is.
NEXT VERSE: The happiness of the jnani does not wane…
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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.
Recorded 6 Sept, 2026