Gita 02.65 – Purification makes external intelligence internal

Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-02-65-purification-makes-external-intelligence-internal/

prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ
hānir asyopajāyate
prasanna-cetaso hy āśu
buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate (Bg 2.65)

Word-for-word:
prasāde — on achievement of the causeless mercy of the Lord; sarva — of all; duḥkhānām — material miseries; hāniḥ — destruction; asya — his; upajāyate — takes place; prasanna-cetasaḥ — of the happy-minded; hi — certainly; āśu — very soon; buddhiḥ — intelligence; pari — sufficiently; avatiṣṭhate — becomes established.

Translation:
For one thus satisfied [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established.

Explanation:
Kṛṣṇa continues to answer Arjuna’s question, vrajeta kim. In verse 2.54, Arjuna asked four questions. The fourth question is now being answered, beginning from verse 2.64 and continuing through to the end of the chapter, verse 2.72.

The previous verse described how, by following scripture and molding one’s life accordingly—putting aside rāga (attachment) and dveṣa (aversion), and regulating the contact of the senses with the sense objects—one can attain prasāda. Prasāda means mercy and purity. The mercy manifests as purity, which means that impure desires begin to subside.

prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ: From mercy, all miseries…
hāniḥ asya upajāyate: …of such a person are destroyed.
prasanna-cetasaḥ hi āśu: His mind soon turns peaceful,
buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate: and his intelligence becomes well situated.

It is interesting that, at the end of it all, Kṛṣṇa says ‘buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate’. This means that one must follow rules and regulations, one must gain mercy, and then the intelligence becomes well situated.

This raises an important question: Doesn’t one need intelligence to begin with—to follow scripture and to put aside attachment and aversion? Yes, one does. But we shouldn’t think of intelligence in binary terms, like digital logic—either zero or one. Our intelligence develops in an analog way.

Whatever little intelligence we have, when we use it to study scripture, our intelligence becomes stronger. With our existing intelligence and whatever understanding of scripture we possess, we begin to live according to scriptural guidance. The more we live by it, the more scriptural intelligence becomes our own intelligence.

In other words, the more we begin to think the way scripture thinks, the more scriptural wisdom stops being borrowed wisdom—it becomes assimilated and internalized. And when that wisdom is truly internalized, buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate—we become well situated in intelligence and wisdom.

For that internalization to take place, there is a process—a process that involves application and purification.

First, one receives scripture. Then comes application—putting scriptural teachings into practice. After application, there is purification, which happens by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. When we receive Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, we become purified. With purification comes realization, internalization, and assimilation. Scriptural wisdom becomes our own wisdom.

This sequence—from purification to the internalization of wisdom—is what is being described here. That is the progression Kṛṣṇa outlines.

When we receive the mercy of the Lord (prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ), all misery goes away (hānir asyopajāyate). A natural question may arise—how can all misery go away? In this world, as long as we are here, we inevitably experience misery.

Even if someone is completely pure—a pure devotee fully in love with Kṛṣṇa—still, such a devotee must go through the miseries of old age, disease, and death. There may also be misunderstandings with others; people may misjudge or misinterpret their actions. In this way, the kleśas—ādhyātmika (miseries from one’s own body and mind), ādhibhautika (miseries caused by other living beings), and ādhidaivika (miseries from natural or supernatural forces)—will continue to exist.
So, what does ‘sarva-duḥkhānāṁ hāniḥ’ refer to?

When we talk about misery, it’s important to understand that there is a difference between inconvenience and misery—between pain and distress.

For example, if you are on your way to a program and your car gets a flat tire, that’s an inconvenience. But if your hand gets fractured, that’s much more than an inconvenience—it’s a real, tangible pain. For most of us, such an injury brings significant suffering.

However, if someone is deeply attached to their car, then even a flat tire might seem like a major problem. A small scratch on the bumper might feel as painful as a knife through the heart. Why? Because of attachment.

Others, who are not so attached to the car, won’t feel the same intensity of emotion. For them, it may just be a minor incident—not something to be overly disturbed about.

The point here is that it is attachment that determines the extent of our emotional response—even the misery we experience depends on the degree of attachment we have.

When, by following scriptural rules and regulations and receiving the Lord’s mercy, one becomes purified, then attachment begins to fade. Misidentification with the body or with material possessions also diminishes. As a result, the experience of misery becomes far less intense.

To illustrate—if we are not attached to a car, then even if something goes wrong with it, we won’t be overly agitated. In the same way, for an advanced devotee or a self-realized person, if something goes wrong with the body—or if something goes wrong at the material level of existence—it doesn’t cause deep disturbance. Why? Because there is no attachment and no misidentification.

The body is seen as a vehicle meant for Kṛṣṇa’s service. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā 18.61, yantrārūḍhāni māyayā—the soul is situated on a machine made of material energy. Just as one would take care of a vehicle, a self-realized soul also takes care of the body. And if the body is injured, they will seek to heal it. Similarly, if things go wrong at the material level, a self-realized person may still try to set them right, as far as possible.

But the key difference is this—those situations don’t constitute misery, because there is no attachment or misidentification. There is no desire to seek pleasure through those external things. Due to inner purity, one delights in one’s spiritual nature. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā 2.55, ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ—the purified mind finds satisfaction within the self.

Because of this—because of the absence of external attachment—misery gradually diminishes. And eventually, when one becomes fully liberated, all misery comes to an end completely. One attains Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual abode that is entirely free from misery.

Here, it is described that by the Lord’s mercy and through purity, all miseries go away. Then, the natural joyfulness of the soul begins to manifest.

The soul is sat-cit-ānanda—eternal, conscious, and blissful. Ānanda is an inherent characteristic of the soul. Furthermore, the soul is eternally connected with Kṛṣṇa, who is the reservoir of all happiness. He is Rāma—as expressed in the phrase ramante yogino ’nante—the yogīs take unlimited pleasure in the infinite Lord. In Him, there is boundless happiness.

Therefore, when we reconnect with Him, prasāda arises, and the heart becomes joyful—prasanna-cetaso hy āśu.

Here, we find an alliteration in the opening letters of the first and third lines—prasāde and prasanna (prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ and prasanna-cetaso). Both begin with “pra,” and even the second syllables (sa) are similar. This poetic feature highlights the beauty of the verse. The Bhagavad-gītā is indeed a poetic work—gītā means “song,” and in English, it is often translated as the “Song of God.”

The verse describes that one becomes joyfully situated, and then buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate—the intelligence becomes firmly established.

As long as we are not joyfully situated, our intelligence is constantly undermined by our search for pleasure. Due to our past conditionings and the impressions stored in the mind, this search for pleasure often misdirects us toward undesirable, materialistic avenues. It pushes us into entanglement and degradation.

However, once we become joyfully situated at the spiritual level, there is nothing to disrupt or distort the intelligence. One becomes firmly established in wisdom. Without inner impurity pulling the soul toward lower things, intelligence can function clearly.

Intelligence, at its core, is the capacity to discriminate between pure and impure, spiritual and material, long-term and short-term. Initially, we gain such intelligence from scripture. Then, by living according to scriptural guidance, receiving Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, and becoming purified, that scriptural intelligence gradually becomes our own. It becomes assimilated and internalized.

At that stage, we are no longer shaken by temptations. We remain joyfully situated in this world, steadily progressing toward eternal happiness in the next—happiness in the eternal association of Kṛṣṇa.

Thank you.