<< Chapter 05 Verse 24 >>
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योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ।। ५.२४ ।।

yo’ntaḥ-sukho’ntar-ārāmas-tathāntar-jyotir-eva yaḥ |
sa yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṁ brahma-bhūto’dhigacchati || 5.24 ||

Audio Audio-BG-5.24
 

The true freedom - Brahma-nirvana

In the next verse, Krishna blends beautifully the subjective mental evenness with the highest religio-spiritual attainment:

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति।।

When one thus gets inner poise, inner delight and inner brilliance, he becomes a Yogi. Becoming Brahman, he attains Brahmic freedom.

To evenize and harmonize the mind – to be even-minded towards all dvandvas – is the summum bonum of all spirituality and seeking. Following such evenization, a new life unfolds. Instead of seeking delight from interaction with the objects, the mind itself generates the poise and delight.

The seeker will prefer the delight born from his inwardness to the interactional thrills and pleasures. He becomes an antah-sukhi and antar-aramah (one revelling in the delight and comfort born of within). And such inner beatitude is accompanied by a constant inner brilliance – antar-jyotih, making him a true yogi. He attains Brahma-nirvana – the supreme release or redemption such a state brings about. That relates to Brahman, its realization. The nirvana arising from Brahmic knowledge and state is the supreme – ultimate in human life. Experiencing such Brahma-nirvana, he verily becomes Brahman (Brahma-bhutah).

The point to be understood is that the inner delight and poise, resulting from the purity of the mind which is freed from the clutches of kama and krodha, is the key note of spiritual and yogic life. Such inner fullness alone counts in the life of a seeker. All the rest is subsidiary.