Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 53

श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला । समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि

śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā | samādhāvacalā buddhistadā yogamavāpsyasi

Translation

When thy mind, perplexed by what thou hast heard, shall stand firm and steady in the Self, then wilt thou attain Yoga.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

śrutivipratipannā

by scripture-texts, distracted

te

thy

yadā

when

sthāsyati

shall stand

niścalā

immovable

samādhau

in Samādhi

acalā

unmoved

buddhiḥ

mind

tadā

then

yogam

to yoga

avāpsyasi

(thou) shalt attain

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

When thy intellect (buddhi), now bewildered by conflicting Vedic prescriptions about ends and means, shall come to stand unwavering (acalā) and immovable (niścalā) in the Self (samādhi), then thou shalt attain Yoga — the union with the Self that is the goal of all this discipline. The verse marks the transition from preparatory karma-yoga to the inward steadiness of the sthita-prajña, the man of steady knowledge, treated in what follows.