Shloka
नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना |
न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम् ||२-६६||Transliteration
nāsti buddhirayuktasya na cāyuktasya bhāvanā .
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntiraśāntasya kutaḥ sukham ||2-66||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
2.66. The capacity to decide is not for one who is not a master of Yoga; and concentration of mind is not for one who is not a master of Yoga; and peace is not for one who does not concentrate; wherefrom could happiness come to one who has no peace ?
Shri Purohit Swami
2.66 Right discrimination is not for him who cannot concentrate. Without concentration, there cannot be meditation; he who cannot meditate must not expect peace; and without peace, how can anyone expect happiness?
Sri Abhinav Gupta
2.66 See Comment under 2.68
Sri Ramanuja
2.66 In him who does not focus his mind on Me but is engaged only in the control of senses by his own exertion, the Buddhi or the right disposition that is concerned with the pure self never arises. Therefore he fails in the practice of meditation on the self. In one who cannot think of the pure self, there arises the desire for sense objects; in him serenity does not arise. How can eternal and unsurpassed bliss be generated in him who is not serene but is attached to sense-objects? [The idea is that without the aid of devotion to God, the effort to control the senses by one’s will power alone will end in failure.]
Sri Krsna speaks again of the calamity that befalls one who does not practise the control of the senses in the way prescribed above:
Sri Shankaracharya
2.66 Ayuktasya, for the unsteady, for one who does not have a concentrated mind; na asti, there is no, i.e. there does not arise; buddhih, wisdom, with regard to the nature of the Self; ca, and; there is no bhavana, meditation, earnest longing [Longing to have a continuous remembrance of the knowledge of Brahman which arises in the mind from hearing the great Upanisadic sayings (maha-vakyas).] for the knowledge of the Self; ayuktasya, for an unsteady man. And similarly, abhavayatah, for an unmeditative man, who does not ardently desire the knowledge of the Self; there is no santih, peace, restraint of the senses. Kutah, how can there be; sukham, happiness; asantasya, for one without peace? That indeed is happiness which consists in the freedom of the senses from the thirst for enjoyment of objects; not the thirst for objects that is misery to be sure. The implication is that, so long as thirst persists, there is no possibility of even an iota of happiness! It is being stated why a man without concentration does not possess wisdom:
Swami Adidevananda
2.66 There is no Buddhi for the unintegrated, nor for him is there contemplation of the self, and for him without contemplation of the self, there is no peace; and for one lacking peace, where is happiness?
Swami Gambirananda
2.66 For the unsteady there is no wisdom, and there is no meditation for the unsteady man. And for an unmeditative man there is no peace. How can there be happiness for one without peace?
Swami Sivananda
2.66 There is no knowledge of the Self to the unsteady and to the unsteady no meditation is possible, and to the unmeditative there can be no peace, and to the man who has no peace, how can there be happiness?
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
2.66 न not? अस्ति is? बुद्धिः knowledge (of the Self)? अयुक्तस्य of the unsteady? न not? च and? अयुक्तस्य of the unsteady? भावना meditation? न not? च and? अभावयतः of the unmeditated? शान्तिः peace? अशान्तस्य of the peaceless? कुतः whence? सुखम् happiness.Commentary The man who cannot fix his mind in meditation cannot have knowledge of the Self. The unsteady man cannot practise meditation. He cannot have even intense devotion to Selfknowledge nor can he have burning longing for liberation or Moksha. He who does not practise meditation cannot possess peace of mind. How can the man who has no peace of mind enjoy happinessDesire or Trishna (thirsting for senseobjects) is the enemy of peace. There cannot be an iota or tinge of happiness for a man who is thirsting for sensual objects. The mind will be ever restless? and will be hankering for the objects. Only when this thirsting dies? does man enjoy peace. Only then can he meditate and rest in the Self.