Bhagavad Gita 14.25
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 25 of 27
मानापमानयोस् तुल्यस् तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः । सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥
mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ | sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate ||
Equal in honor and disgrace, equal to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings — he has gone beyond guṇas.
Word by word (3)
- mānāpamānayoḥ tulyas tulyas mitra-ari-pakṣayoḥ
- — equal (tulya) in honor (māna) and disgrace/dishonor (apamāna); equal toward the party of friends (mitrā-pakṣa) and enemies (ari-pakṣa)
- sarva-ārambha-parityāgī
- — one who has relinquished all undertakings/initiatives (sarva = all; ārambha = initiating, beginning; parityāgī = one who renounces/abandons)
- guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate
- — he is said/declared (ucyate) to have transcended the guṇas (guṇātīta = beyond guṇas) — the formal closure of the guṇātīta portrait
Equal in honor and disgrace; equal toward friends and enemies; having relinquished all undertakings (sarva-ārambha-parityāgī) — he is declared to have gone beyond the guṇas.
A modern analogy
The guṇātīta is like water: it takes the shape of any container (adapts to circumstances) but isn't changed by the container. Honor and disgrace are both containers the world offers — the guṇātīta flows through both without becoming either. Friend and foe are met with equal presence — not equal behavior, but equal inner ground.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
[Truncated in index] The same in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies, abandoning all (undertakings — he is said to have gone beyond the guṇas). [1]
The same in honour and disgrace, the same to friend and foe, relinquishing all undertakings — he is said to have gone beyond the Gunas. [4]
He who is the same in honour and dishonour, the same towards friends and enemies, who abandons all undertakings — he is said to have crossed over the qualities. [9]
He who is the same in honour and dishonour, who is the same towards friends and foes, who has renounced all initiative — he is said to have crossed beyond the qualities. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
Surrendering all actions to Brahman, abandoning attachment — like a lotus leaf, sin never clings.
Offer all actions to Me alone, worship through undivided yoga — the mat-parāḥ hold Me as their supreme goal.
Unable even to act for My sake? Then take refuge in Me, abandon all fruits of action — with self-restraint.
Sāttvic karma: prescribed, attachment-free, without rāga-dveṣa, by one not seeking fruit.
Verse 25 of 27 · back to Chapter 14