Sanskrit
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता । योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः ॥
yathā dīpo nivātastho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā yogino yatacittasya yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥ
Translation
As a lamp in a windless place flickereth not, to such is likened the Yogi of subdued thought, absorbed in the yoga of the Self.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The lamp-in-a-windless-place simile is the chapter’s most quoted image, and it earns its fame by being exact rather than merely poetic: it’s not stillness as the absence of light but stillness as the absence of external disturbance — the flame is still burning, still active, just undisturbed. That distinction matters for a text that has spent five and a half chapters arguing against withdrawal from action.
Concepts