The Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 2 , Sankhya Yoga , is the philosophical heart of the entire text. Verse 2.70 is one of its essential teachings. Below you will find the original Sanskrit, transliteration, translation, and a deep exploration of how this verse applies to the challenges and choices you face today.
BHAGAVAD GITA 2.70
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्…
āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃ samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat…
A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires — as the ocean is never disturbed by rivers — can alone achieve peace.
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One of the Gita’s Most Beautiful Metaphors
The ocean does not chase the rivers. It does not need them to arrive. But when they flow in, it receives them without overflow, without depletion, without being changed by them.
This is the image Krishna uses for the person who has found peace: desires flow in from every direction , because they always will , but the person is not disturbed. They have found something deeper than desire, and it holds.
Undisturbed, Not Desireless
Notice what the verse does not say. It does not say the person who has no desires. It says: the person into whom all desires flow and who remains undisturbed.
Desires will come. The Gita is not asking you to become a stone. It is asking you to become an ocean , deep enough that the incoming rivers do not reach the bottom.
This is exactly what GitaPath is built for. Bring the Gita into your daily life , not as theory, but as a living practice you can actually feel.
The Kāma-Kāmī: The Desirer of Desire
Na kāma-kāmī , not the desirer of desires. The person who runs after desire, who believes satisfaction will finally come if only they get what they want , that person does not find peace.
Not because desire is evil, but because desire satisfied only produces a brief gap before the next desire rises. The ocean-person has found a deeper source.
Build Depth, Not Walls
GitaPath works with this metaphor actively , not about suppressing desires but about building the depth from which they can be received without disturbance.
Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita: Context for Verse 2.70
Chapter 2 is called Sankhya Yoga , the yoga of discriminating knowledge. It begins with Arjuna’s collapse and Krishna’s response, and moves through the nature of the soul, the philosophy of action, and the portrait of the wise person (sthita-prajña). Verse 2.70 sits within this arc.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the ocean metaphor in BG 2.70 mean?
Just as rivers flow into the ocean without disturbing its fullness, desires flow into the mind of the wise without disturbing their peace. It is an image of depth and self-sufficiency, not emptiness.
Does BG 2.70 say we should have no desires?
No. The verse describes someone into whom desires flow , desires are still present. The difference is that this person is not disturbed or driven by them.
How do you become undisturbed by desires?
Through the practices the Gita outlines: self-knowledge, equanimity, action without attachment, and progressive identification with the ātman rather than the ego’s wants. It is a training, not a switch.
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