Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 15 (2.15)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते
॥ 2.15 ॥
yaṃ hi na vyathayantyete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha
samaduḥkhasukhaṃ dhīraṃ so'mṛtatvāya kalpate
Translation
"O best among men! The person of steady understanding whom these (pleasure and pain) do not disturb, who remains the same in sorrow and in joy — he alone is fit for immortality (moksha)."
Interpretation
Equanimity — the Gita's first great quality. Sama-duḥkha-sukha — one for whom sorrow and joy are the same. This will become one of the Gita's central words — samatva (in 2.48, "samatvaṃ yoga ucyate"). Shankaracharya: free of elation and dejection on meeting pleasure and pain.
"Na vyathayanti" — do not disturb. Note: the shloka does not say that pleasure and pain do not come to such a person. It says they do not disturb (agitate, shake) him. The experience comes; the response changes.
Who is like this? Shankaracharya: nitya-ātma-darśanāt — because of seeing the eternal self; such a person is dvandva-sahishnu (able to bear the pairs of opposites). Ramanuja: the steady person who regards unavoidable pain as if it were pleasure, and performs his svadharma (such as the war) without desire for fruit as a means to immortality — harsh contacts such as the blows of weapons in it do not disturb him.
"Puruṣarṣabha" — best among men. Krishna again addresses Arjuna by his excellence — reminding him that this steadiness lies within his capacity.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.