18.53

Sanskrit

अहङ्कारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं परिग्रहम् । विमुच्य निर्ममः शान्तो ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥ ५३ ॥

ahaṅkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ parigraham vimucya nirmamaḥ śānto brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

Translation

Having cast aside egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, wrath, covetousness, selfless and peaceful—he is fit to become the Eternal.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

The sequence begun at verse 51 lands here: having cast off egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, anger, and possessiveness, the selfless and peaceful person becomes “fit to become Brahman” (brahma-bhuyaya kalpate). The verb is deliberately modest — kalpate, “becomes fit for,” not “becomes” — this is a description of readiness, and the actual arrival, notably, turns out in the next three verses to be something other than a terminus.