|| 5.24 ||
योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः। स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति।।
yo ’ntaḥ-sukho ’ntar-ārāmas tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ sa yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṁ brahma-bhūto ’dhigacchati
Word by Word
yaḥ (whoever) antaḥ-sukhaḥ (happy from within) antar-ārāmaḥ (enjoying within) tathā (as well as) antaḥ-jyotiḥ (aiming within) eva (certainly) yaḥ (who) saḥ (he) yogī (a mystic) brahma-nirvāṇam (liberation in the Supreme) brahma-bhūtaḥ (being self-realized) adhigacchati (attains)
Translation
One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme.
Meaning
Kṛṣṇa describes the internal life of the mystic. Such a person is ‘antaḥ-sukho’, happy from within. They are ‘antar-ārāmas’, meaning their playground and place of recreation is inside their own consciousness. They have found the ‘antaḥ-jyotiḥ’, the inner light that never fails.
Such a person is ‘brahma-bhūtaḥ’, already a spiritual being. They attain ‘brahma-nirvāṇam’, or liberation in the Supreme. They don’t need external entertainment—movies, parties, or possessions—to feel alive. They are like a person who has discovered an infinite treasure in their own basement.
By being self-sufficient, the yogī becomes untouchable by the world’s troubles. Kṛṣṇa is inviting Arjuna to this level of sovereignty. If Arjuna can find this inner light, he will realize that he doesn’t ‘need’ the kingdom to be happy, which ironically makes him the only one truly fit to rule it. True power is not needing anything from the world.