Shloka 70
Sankhya Yoga — Sankhya Yoga
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् । तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥ २.७० ॥
āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvat kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve sa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī || 2.70 ||
ดุจสายน้ำทั้งหลายไหลเข้าสู่มหาสมุทร ซึ่งแม้ถูกเติมอยู่เสมอแต่ยังตั้งมั่นไม่หวั่นไหว ฉันใด ความปรารถนาทั้งปวงย่อมไหลเข้าสู่ผู้นั้นฉันนั้น; ผู้นั้นย่อมบรรลุสันติ มิใช่ผู้ใคร่ปรารถนาในกามทั้งหลาย
As waters enter the ocean, which is ever being filled yet remains unmoved, so desires enter him; he attains peace, not the one who hankers after desires.
As waters enter the ocean—ever filling it, yet fixed and unmoving—so all desires enter the one (who remains steady); he attains calm, not the desire-seeker.
The point is not absence of stimuli/desires but non-agitation: experiences may ‘enter,’ yet the stable person is not displaced. The final phrase contrasts the steady person with kāma-kāmī (‘one who desires desire’/craves).
FAQs
It describes emotional resilience: impulses and experiences occur, but they do not necessarily produce destabilizing craving or compulsive pursuit.
The image supports the ideal of an inwardly grounded self: the person established in insight is not defined by the flow of desires and sensations.
It is a culminating metaphor for the sthitaprajña: steadiness is compatible with ongoing life-experience, provided there is non-clinging.
It can inform approaches to consumerism and habit formation: noticing wants without immediately converting them into purchases or identity-claims.