Srimad BhagavadGita

In the previous śloka it was stated that one who undergoes changes (distortion in nature) due to his desire for sense objects cannot attain peace.

Q: Will such a person never have peace then?

A: It is answered in this śloka as follows.

When he gives up his ego, possessiveness, attachment, his longing for the sense objects and the sense objects itself in the mentioned order, he can attain peace.

Śloka 2.69 described the most eligible person for this peace who does not pay heed to the sense objects at all.

Śloka 2.70 described the person who is one grade lower in eligibility, i.e one who notices the sense objects.

This śloka sequentially describes the stages which must be passed by one who is lower in state to the states described in the ślokas 2.70 and 2.69 to reach their eligibility levels. Kṛṣṇa says, “The person who abandons all the sense objects and lives without craving, attachment, ego or possession on them, attains peace.”

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yaḥ pumān (The person who...) 

kāmān vihāya (Abandoning all sense objects) Per the derivation kāmyante iti kāmāḥ, Kāmān refers to the sense objects which are desired. Therefore 'kāmān vihāya' would mean giving up all sense objects.

Q: What should he do to give up the sense objects? This is answered below.

A: niḥspṛhaḥ To abandon the sense objects he must first give up the craving for them.

Q: What should he do to be able to give up his craving for sense objects? This is answered below.

A: nirmamaḥ To be able to give up his craving for sense objects, he must give up his attachment and pseudo sense of possession like ‘this is mine’ on these objects which in reality are not his.

Q: What should he do to be able to give up his attachment for sense objects? This is answered below.

A: nirahaṇkāraḥ He must give up the misconception that his body itself is the soul. When this misconception is corrected, the attachment towards all the sense objects that he experiences in relation with his body will go away. 

carati (One living with the above mentioned qualities) When the false ego goes, attachment goes away. When attachment goes away, desire and longing for sense objects goes away. When the longing for sense objects goes away, it becomes possible for one to get a vision of the soul.

The four states in the practice of a jñāna yoga which were described earlier can be mapped to these four words nirahaṇkāraḥ, nirmamaḥ, niḥspṛhaḥ and vihāya kāmān. The usage of these four words in the śloka makes it clear that this śloka is about a person who wishes to realise his soul. The previous two ślokas described the two stages of a person who has already realised the soul.

saḥ (He) In this way one whose false ego, attachment, desire for sense objects and sense objects too are removed.

śāntim adhigacchati (Attains peace in the form of attainment of a vision of the soul and destruction of the experience of the sense objects) In the beginning though he would notice the sense objects, he would be unaffected by them i.e no change would take place inside him (as described in 2.70). Later he achieves the advanced state where he would not even note the presence of the sense objects (as described in 2.71).