Bhagavad Gita — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga, Shloka 51
Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
बुद्ध्या विशुद्ध्या युक्तो धृत्यात्मानं नियम्य च । शब्दादीन्विषयांस्त्यक्त्वा रागद्वेषौ व्युदस्य च ॥ १८.५१ ॥
buddhyā viśuddhyā yukto dhṛtyātmānaṁ niyamya ca | śabdādīn viṣayāṁs tyaktvā rāga-dveṣau vyudasya ca || 18.51 ||
വിശുദ്ധമായ ബുദ്ധിയാൽ യുക്തനായി, ധൃതിയാൽ ആത്മാവിനെ (മനസ്സിനെ) നിയന്ത്രിച്ച്, ശബ്ദാദി വിഷയങ്ങളെ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുകയും, രാഗദ്വേഷങ്ങളെ അകറ്റുകയും ചെയ്ത്—
शुद्ध बुद्धि से युक्त और धैर्य के द्वारा मन को वश में करके तथा शब्दादि विषयों को त्यागकर और राग-द्वेष को दूर करके—
Endowed with purified understanding, restraining the self by steadfastness, abandoning sense-objects beginning with sound, and setting aside attraction and aversion—
This verse is syntactically continuous with 18.52–53 (a list of disciplines). ‘Tyaktvā viṣayān’ is commonly interpreted as withdrawal from obsessive engagement rather than sensory annihilation; ‘rāga-dveṣa’ aligns with classical Yoga and Sāṃkhya vocabulary of affective conditioning.
FAQs
It outlines cognitive and emotional regulation: clearer judgment, sustained self-control, and reduced reactivity to likes/dislikes—skills central to contemplative practice.
By diminishing rāga-dveṣa and sensory fixation, one reduces the forces that bind consciousness to repetitive karmic patterns, enabling knowledge to become stable.
This begins the ‘in brief’ method promised in 18.50: a sequence of inner disciplines leading toward Brahman-realization.
Limit compulsive media and sensory overstimulation, cultivate patience, and practice noticing preference/aversion without immediately acting on it.