Sanskrit
विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः । रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ rasavarjaṃ raso'py asya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
Translation
The objects of sense, but not the relish for them, turn away from an abstemious dweller in the body; and even relish turneth away from him after the Supreme is seen.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A honest qualification on the tortoise image: merely abstaining from sense-objects doesn’t remove the taste for them — the craving can outlast the behavior. Only direct realization (“seeing the Supreme”) removes the relish itself. It’s a useful warning against mistaking outward discipline for the inner state it’s supposed to produce, echoed again in verse 60.
Concepts