📿 Shloka Collection

Ahankaram Balam Darpam

Gita 18.53 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
अहंकारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं परिग्रहम् ।
विमुच्य निर्ममः शान्तो ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥
Ahankaram balam darpam kamam krodham parigraham
Vimuchya nirmamah shanto brahmabhooyaya kalpate
अहंकारम्
ego, the sense of 'I'
बलम्
pride of strength
दर्पम्
arrogance, haughtiness
कामम्
desire
क्रोधम्
anger
परिग्रहम्
possessiveness, the tendency to hoard
निर्ममः
free from 'mine', without possessive attachment
ब्रह्मभूयाय
for becoming one with Brahman
कल्पते
becomes fit, becomes worthy

Six things hold a person back from the highest realization. Krishna names them plainly: ego, pride of strength, arrogance, desire, anger, and the urge to accumulate. These are not obscure spiritual obstacles. They are everyday companions most people know well.

Letting go of these six is not about becoming empty. It is about becoming light. A tree weighed down by dead branches cannot grow toward the sky. When the dead weight drops away, what remains is a quiet, steady person — free from the grip of 'mine' and 'me'. That person, Krishna says, becomes fit for Brahman.

The word 'kalpate' carries a gentle meaning here — 'becomes worthy,' 'becomes ready.' It is not a sudden leap. It is the natural result of a life lived with less clinging and more stillness.

This shloka completes a three-verse sequence (18.51-53) that maps out the inner discipline needed to reach the state of Brahman. Shloka 51 addressed the purification of intellect and sense-control. Shloka 52 addressed solitude, moderation, and meditation. This one addresses the final obstacles — the deeply rooted patterns of ego and attachment.

The next shloka (18.54) describes what happens when a person actually arrives at that Brahman-state — and, remarkably, it leads straight to bhakti.

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