2.54
अर्जुन उवाच
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥
arjuna uvāca
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava
sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim
Arjuna (अर्जुन) is speaking, to Keśava (केशव).
The verse
Arjuna (अर्जुन) said: What is the description of the man of steady insight, the one who stands in samādhi (समाधि), Keśava (केशव)? How would the steady-minded man speak, how sit, how walk?
नेपालीमा
अर्जुनले भने, हे केशव, स्थिर प्रज्ञा भएको मानिसको, समाधिमा उभिनेको, वर्णन के हो। स्थिर बुद्धि भएको मानिस कसरी बोल्छ, कसरी बस्छ, कसरी हिँड्छ।
Where it sits
Arjuna (अर्जुन) does not ask for a third definition; he asks for a man he could recognize by speech, seat, and walk. Everything from here to 2.72 is Kṛṣṇa's (कृष्ण) portrait, and that portrait is the rest of the chapter.
Split: स्थित-प्रज्ञस्य + का + भाषा + समाधि-स्थस्य + केशव + स्थित-धीः + किम् + प्रभाषेत + किम् + आसीत + व्रजेत + किम्
sthita-prajñasya + kā + bhāṣā + samādhi-sthasya + keśava + sthita-dhīḥ + kim + prabhāṣeta + kim + āsīta + vrajeta + kim
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| स्थित-प्रज्ञस्य | sthita-prajñasya | genitive | of the man whose insight stands steady. |
| का | kā | nominative feminine | what. Agrees with bhāṣā (भाषा). |
| भाषा | bhāṣā | nominative | description, the speech by which he is known. |
| समाधि-स्थस्य | samādhi-sthasya | genitive | of the one who stands in samādhi (समाधि). |
| केशव | keśava | vocative | Keśava (केशव). Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण). |
| स्थित-धीः | sthita-dhīḥ | nominative | the steady-minded man. dhī (धी) is the same insight as prajñā (प्रज्ञा), under the other name. |
| किम् | kim | indeclinable, interrogative | how, what. |
| प्रभाषेत | prabhāṣeta | optative, 3rd singular | would he speak. |
| किम् | kim | indeclinable | how. |
| आसीत | āsīta | optative, 3rd singular | would he sit. |
| व्रजेत | vrajeta | optative, 3rd singular | would he walk. |
| किम् | kim | indeclinable | how. |
The phrases
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā (स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा) is the first question. What is the description of the man of steady insight? bhāṣā (भाषा) is the speech that would mark him, the words by which you would know you were looking at him.
samādhisthasya keśava (समाधिस्थस्य केशव) names the same man a second way, and names the person asked. Of the one who stands in samādhi (समाधि), Keśava (केशव). The genitive matches sthitaprajñasya (स्थितप्रज्ञस्य). 2.53 had just said the buddhi stands in samādhi (समाधि). Arjuna (अर्जुन) asks what that man is like.
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किम् आसीत व्रजेत किम् sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kim āsīta vrajeta kim is three questions with one subject. How would the steady-minded man speak, how would he sit, how would he walk? किम् + आसीत kim + āsīta is recited kimāsīta (किमासीत). The m (म्) before the vowel is just m (म्).
Sanskrit in this line
The three verbs are optative. prabhāṣeta (प्रभाषेत), āsīta (आसीत), vrajeta (व्रजेत). The optative is the mood of "would," a picture rather than a report and rather than an order. He is not asking what the man once said. He is asking how such a man would speak, sit, and move. The ending --eta (एत) is third person singular. The subject of all three is sthitadhīḥ (स्थितधीः).
Say it back
The man he asks about, then the three verbs. If bhāṣā (भाषा) comes out as "a rule," stay here. He asked what the man looks like.