A core teaching · grounding in mood · a little context helps
“Peace begins when wanting, owning, and self-importance fall away.”
One who gives up all desires, moves without craving, without possessiveness, and without ego, attains peace.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallygiving up · desires · who · all · person · moves, acts · without craving · without possessiveness · without ego · that one · peace · attains
A person who acts after releasing desire, possessiveness, and ego finds peace.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 71 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
A retired teacher volunteers at the village library without wanting a plaque or a title. Krishna would recognise that ease: she does the work, drops the sense of 'mine', and stays at peace.
Did you like this verse?
Peace comes, Krishna says, to the one who moves without craving, possessiveness or ego.
What this verse means
A person who acts after releasing desire, possessiveness, and ego finds peace.
Context & commentary
Krishna keeps refining the way to inner freedom: keep acting, and drop craving, possessiveness, and ego as you act. That is the doorway to peace.
What it looks like today
A retired teacher volunteers at the village library without wanting a plaque or a title. Krishna would recognise that ease: she does the work, drops the sense of 'mine', and stays at peace.
“Act without needing to own, control or prove anything, and peace follows.”
Explore related themes: vairagya (51 verses), nishkama (14 verses)