श्रीभगवानुवाच । प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् । आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca | prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān | ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate ||
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Word by word (3)
- prajahāti kāmān sarvān
- — completely casts off all desires · Pra+jahāti (from hā, to abandon) — the 'pra' prefix intensifies: completely, thoroughly casts off. Sarvān = all, without exception. Not suppression — jahāti means genuine abandonment, the way a snake sheds its skin: it is gone, not held at bay. The desires of the manas (mind) — mano-gatān — are the ones specifically addressed: mental desires, the wanting-mind.
- ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ
- — satisfied in the Self by the Self alone · Ātmani (in the Self) + ātmanā (by the Self) + tuṣṭaḥ (satisfied, content). The instrumental and locative of ātman together create a closed loop: the Self finds its satisfaction within itself, not in any external object. This is the Gita's definition of inner sufficiency — the opposite of the addictive seeking mind.
- sthita-prajñas tadocyate
- — then one is called of steady wisdom · The defining mark: the first sign of sthita-prajña is not extraordinary achievement or asceticism, but the internal event of desires being shed and self-sufficiency taking their place. All other qualities (V56-72) flow from this foundational inner shift.
Krishna answers: When someone has completely shed all the desires of the mind, O Arjuna, and is fully content within themselves — satisfied in the Self, by the Self — that person is called one of steady wisdom.
A modern analogy
Think of someone who genuinely doesn't need external validation — not because they've suppressed it, but because they've found a source of contentment inside. They enjoy things, they engage with life — but there is no desperate hunger. No need for the next achievement, the next compliment, the next experience to feel okay. That inner sufficiency is ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ.
Take with you
- Desires don't have to be suppressed — they can be outgrown. The sthitaprajña doesn't fight desires; they simply fall away.
- Self-sufficiency is the Gita's foundational inner quality — all other wisdom-marks build from this.
- Notice the quality of your wanting: does it have a desperate edge (lack-based) or is it light, take-it-or-leave-it (abundance-based)?
- Contentment in oneself is not isolation or passivity — it is the ground that allows full engagement without desperation.
V55 is the foundational verse of the sthitaprajña portrait — the first of 18 verses (V55-72) that answer Arjuna's question 'what does the wise one look like?' The first mark is inner sufficiency: ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ. This phrase has three layers: Atman as the ground (ātmani = in the Self), Atman as the agent (ātmanā = by the Self), and tuṣṭaḥ (satisfied). The complete loop — Self satisfying itself within itself — describes ananda (bliss) as a self-contained state, not dependent on any external trigger. Shankaracharya notes that the 'all desires' (sarvān kāmān) is uncompromising: partial desire-abandonment produces partial equanimity, not sthita-prajña. This does not mean joylessness — the sthitaprajña experiences life fully but without the sticky grasping (saṅga) that turns experience into bondage.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya's commentary on this verse is among his most celebrated. Ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ directly expresses the Advaita recognition: Atman is sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss). When the veil of ego-desire is shed, what remains is not a person who has emptied themselves but the fullness of the Self naturally experienced. The 'satisfaction' is not achieved — it is uncovered. Desires obscure the inherent completeness; when they fall, completeness is not created but revealed.
Bhakti lens
In bhakti, the sthitaprajña is re-read as the perfected devotee who has surrendered all personal desires to the Lord and finds complete fulfillment in devotion alone. 'Ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ' = 'satisfied in the Lord who is the inner Self.' The bhakta's desires are not suppressed but transformed: only the desire for God remains, and that desire is simultaneously its own fulfillment. The sthitaprajña-devotee is not cold or distant but radiantly complete—because the Beloved has become the very ground they rest in.
Karma-Yoga lens
V55 is the goal the karma-yogi is heading toward: action that flows from ātma-tuṣṭi (self-contentment) rather than from seeking anything externally. When all desire-driven motivations fall away ('kāmān sarvān prajahāti'), action becomes pure—not diminished but freed from the anxiety of outcome. The portrait that begins here (V55-V72) is karma-yoga's ultimate destination: a person who acts completely and continuously, driven only by dharma and inner contentment, unstained by results.
Modern parallels
Abraham Maslow's 'self-actualized' persons showed similar characteristics: they had what Maslow called 'Being-values' rather than 'Deficiency-values' — they acted from fullness rather than from lack. Martin Seligman's positive psychology distinguishes 'pleasures' (externally-triggered) from 'gratifications' (intrinsically motivated, self-sustaining) — the latter maps to ātmany tuṣṭaḥ.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, when one completely renounces all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self alone by the Self — then he is called a man of steady wisdom. [1]
The Blessed Lord said: When a man completely casts off, O Partha, all the desires of the mind, and is satisfied in the Self alone by the Self, then is he said to be one of steady wisdom. [4]
The Lord said: When a man has driven out all desires from his heart, O Partha, and when the spirit is content within itself, then he is called a man of settled understanding. [6]
When one, O Pritha's Son! being self-contained, Shall drive back all the clamours of the mind From every sense, and fix the heart on God, 'Steadfast in soul' we call him. [7]
The Blessed Lord said: When a man abandons, O Partha, all desires that enter the mind, and is himself content in the Self with the Self, then is he called one of steady wisdom. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Unmoved in sorrow, ungreedy in joy, free from passion, fear, and anger — that is the steady sage.
Where the mind ceases, stilled by yoga — where the Self sees itself and rests content in itself: this is samādhi.
No thrill, no hatred, no grief, no craving — renouncing both good and evil — this full-devotee is dear to Me!
All desires pour into the sage like rivers into the ocean — the ocean stays unmoved. That is peace.
The self-conquered yogi finds the Supreme Self equally present through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour.