विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः ।रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ |rasavarjaṃ raso 'py asya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate ||
- विषयाः · viṣayāḥ
- sense-objects
- विनिवर्तन्ते · vinivartante
- fall away, recede
- निराहारस्य · nirāhārasya
- of one who abstains, fasts from them
- देहिनः · dehinaḥ
- of the embodied one
- रसवर्जम् · rasavarjam
- except the taste, relish (for them)
- रसः · rasaḥ
- the taste, longing
- अपि · api
- even
- अस्य · asya
- his
- परम् · param
- the Supreme, the higher
- दृष्ट्वा · dṛṣṭvā
- having seen
- निवर्तते · nivartate
- ceases, falls away
“Sense-objects fall away from one who abstains — but the relish for them remains. Even that relish departs on seeing the Supreme.”
— Original plain-language translation
The Gita's most psychologically acute verse: abstinence removes contact, not craving — dieters know this, and so do meditators. Only a greater taste displaces a lesser one; suppression manages symptoms, vision cures. 'Seeing the Supreme' is the only effective appetite therapy.
— Reader's notes (original)