2.69
Chapter 2, Verse 69
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी। यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः৷৷
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṅ tasyāṅ jāgarti saṅyamī. yasyāṅ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyatō munēḥ৷৷
Translation
The saint is awake when the world sleeps, and he ignores that for which the world lives.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
या which, निशा night, सर्वभूतानाम् of all beings, तस्याम् in that, जागर्ति wakes, संयमी the selfcontrolled, यस्याम् in which, जाग्रति wake, भूतानि all beings, सा that, निशा night, पश्यतः (of the) seeing, मुनेः of the Muni. Commentary: That which is real for the wordlyminded people is illusion for the sage, and vice versa. The sage lives in the Self. This is day for him. He is unconscious of the wordly phenomena. They are night for him, as it were. The ordinary man is unconscious of his real nature. Life in the spirit is night for him. He is experiencing the objects of sensual enjoyment. This is day for him. The Self is a nonentity for him For a sage this world is a nonentity.The wordlyminded people are in utter darkness as they have no knowledge of the Self. What is darkness for them is all light for the sage. The Self, Atman or Brahman is night for the worldlyminded persons. But the sage is fully awake. He is directly cognising the supreme Reality, the Light of lights. He is full of illumination and AtmaJnana or knowledge of the Self.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.