BG 2.71

vihaya kaman yah sarvan

pumams carati nihsprihah

nirmamo nirahankarah

sa santim adhigacchati

SYNONYMS

vihaya — giving up; kaman — material desires for sense gratification; yah — who; sarvan — all; puman — a person; carati — lives; nihsprihah — desireless; nirmamah — without a sense of proprietorship; nirahankarah — without false ego; sah — he; santim — perfect peace; adhigacchati — attains.

TRANSLATION

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego — he alone can attain real peace.

vihaya-> to give up kaman -> material desire yah sarvan-> all

So, one who relinquishes all material desires:

‘Pumams carati’ -> moves around (so the entire question was ‘Kim Vrajet,’ so how does such a person move around?) ‘Nihsprihah’ -> without any desires, ‘Nirmamo’ -> without any possessiveness, ‘Nirahankarah’ -> without any false ego, ‘Karta Aham Etit Mantyate’ -> without any arrogance, without any possessiveness.

‘Sa santim adhigacchati’ -> such a person will attain peace or satisfaction in life.

So, who will attain peace?

One who gives up material desires, moves around in this world without any possessiveness and false ego, will attain happiness.

So, basically, one has to understand that I am a soul and I move in this world for the sake of yoga, not for anything in this world. ‘Sa santim adhigacchati’ -> such a person will attain happiness.

The previous verse talks about having internal peace, and this verse talks about ‘charati’ – moving around with that internal peace and not getting attracted by material desires or conceptions. Such a person is happy.

As long as we have any material desires, they make us restless and we lose our peace. When we have spiritual desires, can they take away our peace? We can say they take away our peace, but they increase our remembrance of Krishna. And when remembrance of Krishna is intensified, that is actually the perfection of our life, enabling us to become truly happy. So, what we need is remembrance of Krishna at all times, and desires that cause us to remember Krishna. They are auspicious desires. A devotee has spiritual desires, and those desires take us to the platform of supreme peace, which is the peace of knowing that Krishna is always with me and I am always connected with Krishna. So, there is peace of mind and there is peace of heart. Peace of mind is the absence of anxieties, worries, and fears. There is peace of the mind. But beyond peace of mind is peace of heart. Peace of heart is based on love. When we know that we are in a loving relationship and that this relationship is eternal and unbreakable, and whatever we are doing is to strengthen and deepen that relationship, then every opportunity that arises deepens and strengthens our relationship further. In such a situation, nothing can break one’s peace. The Bhagavad Gita talks about the peace of the heart, not just peace of the mind. Such spiritual desires bring us supreme happiness.

So, the person who is truly peaceful is one who is detached from everything material. The Bhagavad Gita is progressing in its thought, and it will bring Krishna to the center later. For now, Krishna is focusing on detachment from the negative. Later on, He will discuss attachment to the positive… Srila Prabhupada, in the purport, talks about what desirelessness is. To not desire for sense gratification, but to desire for Krishna consciousness. Serving Krishna is within our nature (just as a fish in water is not a desire but nature). That is not a foreign desire to the soul.