Bhagavad Gita 2.69 · BG 2.69
Chapter 2Verse 69
Sankhya Yoga
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी। यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः॥
yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī, yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
Translation
What is night for all beings is the time of waking for the self-controlled. And what all beings are awake to is night for the sage who sees.
The moment
This is near the end of Krishna's long portrait of the person with steady wisdom. Here he describes how differently that person sees the world.
What it means
The things most people ignore, the wise pay full attention to. The things most people are absorbed in, the wise barely notice. Their priorities run almost opposite to everyone else's.
Going deeper
The night here is a figure of speech. Most people are awake to pleasure, status and possessions, and asleep to the self. For the sage it's the reverse.
The verse is also a gentle warning that real clarity can look odd from the outside. Someone awake to different things will seem asleep to yours.
In your life
Look at what took most of your attention yesterday. Then ask what you were asleep to while you did it: a person, your health, a question that matters. That second list is often where the verse wants you to wake up.
What the world sleeps through, the wise are awake to.
Keep reading
4.34
Approach wisdom with humility, honest questions, and an open hand.
15.7
Something eternal lives at the center of you, wearing the mind and senses like a garment.
18.63
Reflect on it fully. Then the choice is genuinely yours to make.
15.1
The world is a tree rooted above. Know its roots, and you know the rest.