Chapter 14: Guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga: – Understanding and Transcending the Three Qualities of NatureVerse 24
समदु:खसुख: स्वस्थ: समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चन: ।
तुल्यप्रियाप्रियो धीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुति: ॥
sama-du:kha-sukha: svastha:
sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcana:
tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras-
tulya-nindātma-saṃstuti: – 14.24
(He who) remains equipoised in sorrow and happiness, rests firmly in oneself, considers a clod of earth, stone and a piece of gold with equal importance, is evenly disposed towards the desirable and detestable, poised (dhīra:), accepting praise and blame alike;
Chapter 14: Guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga: – Understanding and Transcending the Three Qualities of Nature - Verse 24
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Krishna brings in his pet concept of evenness and poise, emphasized abundantly right from the 2nd chapter. Samatva is the watchword of Bhagavad Gita and yoga alike!
Sukha and duḥkha are the only two resultants of our interactional life and wakeful state. Our senses interacting with their objects repeatedly bring these about. Sukha-duḥkha arrival and retreat are natural, inevitable. Duḥkha brings sukha, and sukha fetches duḥkha. What is there more preferable then in either?
When this kind of evaluation and enrichment embraces the mind, sukha-duḥkhas lose their unsettling impact. And the seeker rises to a higher level of evenness and poise. The enrichment extends to all other dvandvas like desirable-undesirable, praise-blame, and also to substances like gold, earth and stone, each of which has its own place in Nature. What an ineffable effulgence, relief and fullness does this vision bestow!
