Verse 2.55

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.55:

श्री भगवान् उवाच–
प्रजहाति यदा कामान् सर्वान् पार्थ मनो-गतान् ।
आत्मन्य् एवात्मना तुष्टः स्थित-प्रज्ञस् तदोच्यते ॥ ५५ ॥

śrī bhagavān uvāca–
prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān |
ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate || 55 ||

śrī bhagavān uvāca–the Personality of Godhead said; prajahāti–he abandons; yadā–when; kāmān–of desire; sarvān–all types; pārtha–O Pārtha; manaḥ-gatān–arising from the mind; ātmani–within his (controlled) mind; eva–indeed; ātmanā–by his blissful soul; tuṣṭaḥ–he is satisfied; sthita-prajñaḥ–a person of steady intelligence; tadā–at that time; ucyate–he is called.

Śrī Bhagavān said: O Pārtha, when the living entity renounces all material desires arising from the mind, and when, his mind thus controlled, he becomes completely satisfied by the blissful personal form of his own ātmā (self), he is to be known as sthita-prajña, a person of steady intelligence.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Now from this verse beginning with prajahāti until the end of the chapter, Śrī Bhagavān answers four of Arjuna’s questions in sequence. Sarvān denotes one who does not have a scent of material desire. The word mano-gatān indicates the ability to give up material desires born of a non-spiritual nature, which are opposed to the nature of the soul. If the nature of these desires were spiritual, it would not be possible to give them up, just as fire cannot give up heat. This is because a controlled mind, after realizing the ātmā, which is blissful by nature, becomes satisfied by the ātmā alone.

The Śrutis confirm this:

yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hṛdi sthitāḥ
atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty atra brahma samaśnute

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.3.14)

When all desires are removed from the heart, the bound soul attains realization of the Absolute Truth and becomes immortal.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

One should also study the verse ātmany eva ca santuṣṭaḥ (Gītā 3.17).

The great devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja has given a similar instruction in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.10.9):

vimuñcati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān
tarhy eva puṇḍarīkākṣa bhagavattvāya kalpate

O lotus-eyed Lord, when a man gives up all the material desires situated in his heart, he becomes eligible to attain opulences equal to Your own.