Bhagavad-gita
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TEXT 71
vihaya kaman yah sarvan
pumams carati nihsprhah
nirmamo nirahankarah
sa santim adhigacchati
SYNONYMS
vihaya--after giving up; kaman--all material desires for sense gratification; yah--the person; sarvan--all; puman--a person; carati--lives; nihsprhah--desireless; nirmamah--without a sense of proprietorship; nirahankarah--without false ego; sah--all; santim--perfect peace; adhigacchati--attains.
TRANSLATION
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego--he alone can attain real peace.
PURPORT
To become desireless means not to desire anything for sense gratification. In other words, desire for becoming Krsna conscious is actually desirelessness. To understand one's actual position as the eternal servitor of Krsna, without falsely claiming this material body to be oneself and without falsely claiming proprietorship over anything in the world, is the perfect stage of Krsna consciousness. One who is situated in this perfect stage knows that because Krsna is the proprietor of everything, therefore everything must be used for the satisfaction of Krsna. Arjuna did not want to fight for his own sense satisfaction, but when he became fully Krsna conscious he fought because Krsna wanted him to fight. For himself there was no desire to fight, but for Krsna the same Arjuna fought to his best ability. Desire for the satisfaction of Krsna is really desirelessness; it is not an artificial attempt to abolish desires. The living entity cannot be desireless or senseless, but he does have to change the quality of the desires. A materially desireless person certainly knows that everything belongs to Krsna (isavasyam idam sarvam), and therefore he does not falsely claim proprietorship over anything. This transcendental knowledge is based on self-realization--namely, knowing perfectly well that every living entity is the eternal part and parcel of Krsna in spiritual identity, and therefore the eternal position of the living entity is never on the level of Krsna or greater than Him. This understanding of Krsna consciousness is the basic principle of real peace.