In plain words
having relinquished ahaṅkāra, force, arrogance, desire, anger, and possessions, free from the sense of ‘mine’ and peaceful, one becomes fit for becoming Brahman.
Word for word
having let go of ahaṅkāra, force, arrogance, desire, anger and possessions, free from 'mine', at peace, one is fit for becoming Brahman.
The commentators
Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
किञ्च —
अहङ्कारम् अहङ्करणम् अहङ्कारः देहादिषु तम् , बलं सामर्थ्यं कामरागसंयुक्तम् — न इतरत् शरीरादिसामर्थ्यं स्वाभाविकत्वेन तत्त्यागस्य अशक्यत्वात् — दर्पं दर्पो नाम हर्षानन्तरभावी धर्मातिक्रमहेतुः ‘हृष्टो दृप्यति दृप्तो धर्ममतिक्रामति’(आ. ध. सू. १ । १३ । ४) इति स्मरणात् ; तं च, कामम् इच्छां क्रोधं द्वेषं परिग्रहम् इन्द्रियमनोगतदोषपरित्यागेऽपि शरीरधारणप्रसङ्गेन धर्मानुष्ठाननिमित्तेन वा बाह्यः परिग्रहः प्राप्तः, तं च विमुच्य परित्यज्य, परमहंसपरिव्राजको भूत्वा, देहजीवनमात्रेऽपि निर्गतममभावः निर्ममः, अत एव शान्तः उपरतः, यः संहृतहर्षायासः यतिः ज्ञाननिष्ठः ब्रह्मभूयाय ब्रह्मभवनाय कल्पते समर्थो भवति ॥ ५३ ॥
In plain words
And there is more —
'Ahaṅkāra' means the constant making of 'I' — that false 'I' fastened onto the body and everything like it. 'Balam' means strength, but only the kind bound up with desire and passion — not ordinary bodily capacity, which is simply natural and impossible to give up anyway. 'Darpa' means arrogance: exactly the thing that follows right on the heels of elation and pushes a person to cross the line of dharma, as the old teaching says: 'The elated grow arrogant; the arrogant transgress dharma' (Āpastamba Dharmasūtra 1.13.4). 'Kāma' means desire; 'krodha' means aversion; and 'parigraha', possessiveness, deserves a fuller word — because even once someone has cleared every fault from the senses and mind, some outward possession still tends to come along, whether for keeping the body alive or for carrying out some religious duty. Having let go of even that — having truly relinquished it — and become a paramahaṃsa, a supreme wandering renunciant, with not even the faintest sense of 'mine' left, not even about the bare fact of staying alive: that is what 'nirmama' means. And that is exactly why he is 'śānta', at peace, all craving stilled. Such a person — every trace of excitement and exertion withdrawn, an ascetic, steadfast in knowledge — truly becomes fit, becomes capable, of becoming Brahman.
Close to the Sanskrit
And what more —
'Ahaṅkāra' means the making of 'I' — ahaṅkāra with regard to the body and so on — that ahaṅkāra. 'Balam' means capability, connected with desire and passion — not the other kind, the capability belonging to the body and so on, since, being natural, its abandonment would be impossible. 'Darpa' means: darpa is indeed that which arises immediately after joy, and is the cause of transgressing dharma, because of the tradition which says: 'One who is elated becomes arrogant; one who is arrogant transgresses dharma' (Āpastamba Dharmasūtra 1.13.4). And that darpa; 'kāma' means desire; 'krodha' means hatred; 'parigraha' — even upon the abandonment of the faults residing in the senses and mind, an external possession still comes to one, whether through the occasion of maintaining the body or for the purpose of performing religious duty — and having released, having relinquished, that too, having become a supreme wandering renunciant, even with regard to the mere continuance of bodily life, being one from whom the sense of 'mine' has departed — that is 'nirmama'; for this very reason he is 'śānta', that is one who has ceased from craving; he who has withdrawn elation and exertion — that ascetic, steadfast in knowledge, becomes fit, that is capable, for becoming Brahman.