Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Bhagavad Gita 2.59: Vishaya vinivartante

Krishna says that when a person stops feeding the senses, their objects fall away, but the taste for them remains.

Bhagavad Gita 2.59

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः ।रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥

Vishaya vi­ni­var­tan­te ni­ra­ha­ras­ya dehinah
Rasavarjam rasopyasya param drishtva nivartate

viṣayā vi­ni­var­tan­te ni­rā­hā­ras­ya dehinaḥ |
rasavarjaṃ ra­so’p­yas­ya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate ||

Our meaning Krishna says that when a person stops feeding the senses, their objects fall away, but the taste for them remains. Even that taste goes, he says, once the person has seen the Highest.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि जो व्यक्ति विषयों को ग्रहण नहीं करता, उससे विषय तो छूट जाते हैं, पर उनका रस (उनकी चाह) बना रहता है। वे कहते हैं कि परम को देख लेने पर यह रस भी छूट जाता है।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

  1. विषयाः viṣayāḥ sense objects (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: viṣaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 997, col. 1 sphere (of influence or activity)
  2. विनिवर्तन्ते vinivartante turn away (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: vi-ni-vṛt, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 971, col. 2 to turn back, return
  3. निराहारस्य nirāhārasya of one who abstains (adjective (masculine), genitive singular) Dictionary: nir-āhāra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 540, col. 2 having no food or abstaining from it
  4. देहिनः dehinaḥ of the embodied one (noun (masculine), genitive singular) Dictionary: dehin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 497, col. 1 m. the spirit, soul
  5. रसवर्जम् rasavarjam except the taste for them (compound, used as adverb) Dictionary: rasa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 869, col. 2 ; varjam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 924, col. 1 excluding, excepting, except, without
  6. रसः rasaḥ taste, longing (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: rasa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 869, col. 2
  7. अपि api even (indeclinable) Dictionary: api, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 55, col. 1 in the sense of even, also, very
  8. अस्य asya his (pronoun (masculine), genitive singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2
  9. परम् param the Supreme (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. para, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 586, col. 1 highest, supreme, chief
  10. दृष्ट्वा dṛṣṭvā having seen (absolutive (having done)) Dictionary: 1. dṛś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 491, col. 2 to see, behold, look at, regard, consider
  11. निवर्तते nivartate turns away (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: ni-vṛt, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 560, col. 1 to turn away, retreat, flee, escape, abstain or desist from

Public-domain translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 50.

Objects of sense draw back from a person who is abstinent; not so the taste (for those objects). But even the taste departs from him, when he has seen the Supreme1.

  1. See on this, Wilson's Essays on Sanskrit Literature, vol. iii, p. 130. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 50, scan leaf n63). Shown verbatim.
Compare 3 translations

Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 50.

Objects of sense draw back from a person who is abstinent; not so the taste (for those objects). But even the taste departs from him, when he has seen the Supreme1.

  1. See on this, Wilson's Essays on Sanskrit Literature, vol. iii, p. 130. ↩
English translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882); public domain. archive.org (page 50, scan leaf n63). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 36.

The objects of sense, save those of flavour, turn away from an abstemious Dweller in the body; and even flavour turneth away from him after the Supreme is seen.

English translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895); public domain. archive.org (page 36, scan leaf n42). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 120.

Objects fall away from the abstinent man, leaving the longing behind. But his longing also ceases, who sees the Supreme.

English translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909); public domain. archive.org (page 120, scan leaf PB June 1907, PDF p. 21). Shown verbatim.

You are reading this one

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep with AI help and reviewed. Source and changes

Questions families ask

Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 2.59?

Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 2 (Sankhya Yoga).

Where does the Sanskrit text come from?

Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep with AI help and reviewed. See the source

Is the meaning on this page a translation?

Explanation written for this site with AI help from the sources listed here, and reviewed. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.

Source and licence

Sanskrit text
The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
Translation
The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Translation
The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Sanskrit text
Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Used only to date the text. The Devanagari on this page is a reading text and is not copied from this printing.
Common wording
In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
Our explanation
Explanation written for this site with AI help from the sources listed here, and reviewed. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Review
AI review: 2 independent reviews against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.

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