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← Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion

Verse 12.18

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः | शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ||१८||

Transliteration (IAST)

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ | śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ ||18||

Word-by-Word Meanings

samaḥ-equal
śatrau-toward enemy
mitre-toward friend
māna-apamānayoḥ-in honor and dishonor
śīta-uṣṇa-cold and heat
sukha-duḥkheṣu-in pleasure and pain
saṅga-vivarjitaḥ-free from attachment

Translation

One who is equal toward friend and foe, and also in honor and dishonor, who is equal in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment -

Commentary

This verse catalogs the pairs of opposites (dvandvas) that the devotee transcends. Madhva notes the progression from social opposites (friend/foe, honor/dishonor) to physical ones (cold/heat) to psychological ones (pleasure/pain). The culminating quality 'saṅga-vivarjita' (free from attachment) is the root from which all equanimity grows.

Themes

bhaktiyogaatman