Shloka 69
कर्मयोग–ज्ञानयज्ञ–अवतारोपदेश
Karma-Yoga, Jñāna-Yajña, and Avatāra Instruction
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी । यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुने:,सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंके लिये जो रात्रिके समान है, उस नित्य ज्ञानस्वरूप परमानन्दकी प्राप्तिमें स्थितप्रज्ञ योगी जागता है? और जिस नाशवान् सांसारिक सुखकी प्राप्तिमें सब प्राणी जागते हैं, परमात्माके तत्त्वको जाननेवाले मुनिके लिये वह रात्रिके समान है?
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī | yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ||
Aquello que es como “noche” para todos los seres—ahí permanece despierto el yogui dueño de sí; y aquello en lo que todos los seres están despiertos—persiguiendo los goces mundanos perecederos—para el sabio que ve la realidad es como “noche”.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a reversal of values: what the spiritually undisciplined regard as ‘life’ and ‘wakefulness’—the chase for transient pleasures—appears as darkness to the true seer, while the inner realization and steady awareness that seem ‘dark’ or irrelevant to most beings are precisely where the disciplined yogin is awake. It urges discernment (viveka) and self-mastery (saṁyama) as the basis for ethical clarity.
In the battlefield dialogue, Arjuna is being instructed about the nature of wisdom and steadiness. This verse frames the contrast between ordinary worldly orientation and the perspective of the sage, reinforcing why one established in insight remains unshaken even amid the turmoil and moral tension of the Kurukṣetra war.