श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला । समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि ॥
śruti-vipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā | samādhāv acalā buddhis tadā yogam avāpsyasi ||
When your mind — shaken by conflicting teachings — stands still in samādhi: that is yoga attained.
Word by word (3)
- śruti-vipratipannā
- — shaken / tossed about by conflicting scriptures · Śruti = revealed scripture (literally 'that which is heard'). Vipratipannā from vi+prati+pad (to go against, to contradict) — the mind in conflict because different scriptural passages seem to say different things. The honest seeker encounters this: one passage says act, another renounce; one says God has form, another says formless.
- samādhāv acalā
- — immovable in samādhi · Samādhi from sam+ā+dhā (to place together, to concentrate fully). The acalā (immovable, unshaking) buddhi in samādhi is not rigid — it is like a lamp in a windless room: perfectly still not because nothing moves outside, but because the inner flame is steady. This is the functional definition of samādhi in the Gita.
- yogam avāpsyasi
- — you will attain yoga · Avāpsyasi — future tense, a promise. The attainment of yoga is the endpoint of this entire progression: V47 (release fruit) → V48 (equanimity) → V49 (buddhi-yoga) → V50 (skill) → V51 (freedom) → V52 (cross delusion) → V53 (steady buddhi in samādhi = yoga attained).
Your mind is currently tossed around by conflicting teachings, different authorities, contradictory advice. When that same intellect becomes still and unwavering — rooted in samādhi — then you will have attained yoga.
A modern analogy
Social media feeds us contradictory advice constantly: 'hustle hard' vs. 'rest more.' 'Set boundaries' vs. 'be more compassionate.' Productivity gurus vs. minimalists. The untrained mind bounces between these, never settling. The one who has attained the 'samādhi' of clear self-knowledge simply knows what is right for them — the external noise stops having the power to destabilize.
Take with you
- Conflicting teachings are a feature, not a bug — the diversity of spiritual guidance is meant to force you inward, toward direct knowing.
- Samādhi in the Gita is primarily an inner stability, not a special trance state — it is available in daily life.
- The steady intellect does not mean having all answers; it means knowing what you know, from your own experience.
- You have attained yoga to the degree that external contradictions stop destabilizing your inner compass.
This verse closes the first major teaching block of Krishna's discourse (V11-53). V53 is the culminating verse of the karma-yoga/buddhi-yoga progression. The phrase śruti-vipratipannā (tossed by conflicting scriptures) is a subtle acknowledgment by Krishna of the Vedic tradition's own internal contradictions — the tension between karma-kāṇḍa (ritual action for reward) and jñāna-kāṇḍa (knowledge-path toward liberation). Shankaracharya notes that when buddhi is fully settled in samādhi, the apparent contradictions of the Vedas resolve: both action-path and knowledge-path serve the same ultimate aim, and the settled mind sees how. V53 thus prepares for Arjuna's question in V54, which opens the final 18-verse portrait of the sthitaprajña — the practical embodiment of this steady-buddhi state.
Modern parallels
Carl Jung's concept of 'individuation' — the process of arriving at one's own center rather than being defined by external collective norms — parallels the śruti-vipratipannā → samādhi journey. The individuated person has 'crossed the bog of collective delusion' and stands in their own knowing. In epistemology, this parallels the distinction between 'justified true belief' (external-authority-based) and direct knowledge by acquaintance — samādhi is the latter.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
When the intellect, distracted by the conflicting injunctions of the scriptures, shall stand steady in samādhi and remain immovable — then thou shalt attain yoga. [1]
When thy understanding, tossed about by conflicting scriptures, shall stand unshakeable in samādhi, firm and unmoved — then shalt thou attain to yoga. [4]
When thy understanding, perplexed by scripture, stands immovable and firm in samādhi, then shalt thou attain to right discernment, then to yoga. [6]
When standing unmoved amid the strife Of these conflicting texts, thy stead-fast mind Gives true light — then, O Prince! thine eyes have seen; Then art thou come to Yog — to right, to truth! [7]
When thy understanding, which is bewildered by the Vedic texts, will stand steady and unmoved in samādhi — then thou wilt achieve yoga. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
When your mind crosses the fog of delusion, you'll outgrow both past teachings and future ones.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Where the mind ceases, stilled by yoga — where the Self sees itself and rests content in itself: this is samādhi.
In the new birth, one recovers the former body's intelligence — and strives even more than before toward perfection.
Past practice carries the yogi forward involuntarily — even the yoga-inquirer surpasses the Vedic ritualist.
O Madhusūdana — I see no stable foundation for this yoga: the mind's restlessness defeats all steadiness.