Verse 14.24
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः | तुल्यप्रियाप्रियो धीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुतिः ||२४||
Transliteration (IAST)
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ | tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ ||24||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
He who is alike in pleasure and pain, who is self-abiding, to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are alike, who is the same toward the agreeable and disagreeable, who is wise, and to whom censure and praise are equal.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that 'sva-sthaḥ' (self-abiding) is the key term - one who is established in the Self naturally sees all external objects and experiences as equal, since they are all modifications of the gunas and do not touch the Self. Ramanuja notes that this equanimity is not indifference but the natural state of one whose happiness comes from within, not from external circumstances.