Gita 5.21

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् | स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते ||५.२१||

bāhyasparśeṣv asaktātmā vindaty ātmani yat sukham | sa brahmayogayuktātmā sukham akṣayam aśnute ||5.21||

In essence: When you stop begging the world for happiness, you discover you are the source—and that source never runs dry.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "Krishna says to find happiness in the Self, not in external contacts. But honestly, right now external things DO make me happy. Food, friends, accomplishments. Is this wrong?"

Guru: "Not wrong—incomplete. Those external contacts don't CREATE happiness; they RELEASE happiness that is already within you."

Sadhak: "That sounds like spiritual wordplay. I eat something delicious and I feel pleasure. The food caused the pleasure."

Guru: "Consider: you eat when you're not hungry—is it equally pleasurable? You achieve a goal you no longer care about—same joy? The external object only triggers happiness when internal conditions align. Where does the happiness actually come from?"

Sadhak: "So you're saying the happiness is mine, and the food just... opens a gate?"

Guru: "Exactly. Every desire is a contracted state. When desire is fulfilled, contraction releases, and your natural happiness—which was obscured by the contraction—shines through. You attribute this happiness to the object, but the object only removed the obstruction to happiness that the desire itself created."

Sadhak: "That's a disturbing thought. Desire creates the very dissatisfaction it claims to cure?"

Guru: "Now you see. The asaktātmā—the one unattached to external contacts—isn't deprived of happiness. They've simply stopped the cycle of contracting through desire and then seeking release through objects. They abide in the natural, uncaused happiness that is the Self's nature."

Sadhak: "But without desire, wouldn't life become boring? Flat?"

Guru: "The one established in Self-happiness can still enjoy external pleasures—but as overflowing, not as filling a lack. They eat because eating is enjoyable, not because they need food to feel okay. They work because creating is joyful, not because achievement proves their worth. The difference: external contacts become celebrations of happiness, not negotiations for it."

Sadhak: "And this happiness is akṣayam—imperishable? Even when the body ages and dies?"

Guru: "Does awareness age? Does the knowing in which all experience appears... die? The happiness of the Self is imperishable because the Self is imperishable. What you truly are was never born and will never end. Find the happiness that belongs to THAT—not to the body, not to the person—and you've found what cannot be taken from you."

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🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Begin with 'Source Meditation.' Sit quietly and recall a recent moment of happiness—perhaps something simple like a good meal, a warm interaction, a moment of beauty. Now investigate: Where did that happiness actually come from? The external trigger was present, but was the happiness IN the trigger or IN YOU, revealed by the trigger? Trace the happiness to its source—the open, aware space that you are. Rest in that source directly, without needing a trigger. Notice: this happiness is available right now, not because something good is happening, but because you ARE.

☀️ Daytime

Practice 'Happiness Sourcing' throughout the day. Each time something external makes you happy—a compliment, accomplishment, sensory pleasure—immediately ask: 'Where is this happiness actually located?' Don't reject the external cause; just trace the effect to its real source within you. This transforms every pleasure from evidence that happiness is 'out there' to a reminder that happiness is 'in here.' Similarly, when you feel drawn to something external for happiness, ask: 'What if the happiness I'm seeking is already here, waiting to be noticed?'

🌙 Evening

Practice 'Akṣayam Recognition.' Review your day's pleasures—they have passed. Review your day's pains—they too have passed. Now notice: the awareness in which all this arose and passed... has IT changed? Is it depleted by the day's experiences? Damaged by the difficulties? This unchanging aware presence is your Self. Happiness that depends on nothing, loses nothing. Rest in this imperishable dimension of yourself. Let the body rest, let the mind rest, let everything that can rest, rest. What remains awake—that peace, that simple presence—is sukham akṣayam. You don't have to create it; just stop overlaying it with seeking.

Common Questions

I've tried looking within for happiness and just found thoughts, feelings, sometimes emptiness. Where is this Self-happiness?

You looked within as you would look at an object—trying to find happiness as something perceivable. But the Self isn't an object within you; it's the subject, the very awareness doing the looking. The happiness of the Self isn't a feeling you can observe; it's the peace of simply being, prior to the search for happiness. Stop searching for a moment. Just be. That cessation of seeking, that simplicity of presence—notice its quality. Not exciting, perhaps, but complete. This is the happiness that doesn't come and go because it isn't an experience; it's what you ARE.

If attachment to external things causes suffering, should I isolate myself and renounce the world?

Physical renunciation without inner renunciation changes nothing—you'll carry your attachments into the cave. Inner renunciation without physical renunciation is complete—you can live in the world without being bound by it. The 'asakta' (unattachment) Krishna describes is internal. You can have relationships, work, possessions—just don't demand happiness from them. Enjoy them freely when present; release them gracefully when they change. The test of true non-attachment: can you engage fully without needing things to be other than they are?

What's the practical difference between happiness from within and happiness from outside?

Happiness from outside depends on conditions you can't control: the object must be present, your desire must align, circumstances must permit. It comes, it goes, and you're left seeking again. Happiness from within depends on nothing—it's recognized as your nature, not produced by effort. Practically: with external happiness, you're always vulnerable—what you have can be lost, what you desire may not come. With Self-happiness, you're invulnerable—not because you're protected from loss, but because what you truly are cannot be lost. You still feel pain, face difficulty, but you don't lose yourself in them. This is akṣayam sukham—imperishable happiness: not that pleasant feelings never end, but that the peace of being who you are never ends.

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