Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 22 (4.22)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः
समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वाऽपि न निबध्यते
॥ 4.22 ॥
yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ
samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvā'pi na nibadhyate
Translation
"Content with whatever comes of its own accord, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, and even-minded in success and failure — such a person is not bound even while acting."
Interpretation
Four marks. (1) Yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭa — content with what comes; (2) dvandvātīta — beyond the pairs of opposites; (3) vimatsara — no envy; (4) samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau — even in success and failure (the samatva of 2.48).
Shankaracharya: aprārthitopanato lābhaḥ — gain that comes unasked; saṃjātālaṃ-pratyayaḥ — the feeling that "this is enough". Dvandvaiḥ śītoṣṇādibhiḥ hanyamāno 'pi aviṣaṇṇa-cittaḥ (undismayed in mind even when struck by the opposites, cold and heat and the like). Such a renunciate, even while going for alms and so on, always seeing naiva kiñcit karomy aham, guṇā guṇeṣu vartante (3.28) — "I do nothing at all, the gunas move among the gunas" — laukikaiḥ āropita-kartṛtve … kartā bhavati, svānubhavena tu … akartaiva — is a doer in the eyes of people, but in his own experience a non-doer; and so he is not bound.
Acharya Ramanuja: yadṛcchopanata-śarīra-dhāraṇa-hetu-vastu-santuṣṭaḥ — content with whatever comes of its own accord for sustaining the body; dvandvātītaḥ yāvat-sādhana-samāpty-avarjanīya-śītoṣṇādi-sahaḥ — enduring the heat and cold and the like that are unavoidable until the practice is complete; samaḥ … yuddhādi-karmasu jayādi-siddhy-asiddhyoḥ sama-cittaḥ — even-minded in victory and defeat in actions such as war; karma eva kṛtvā api jñāna-niṣṭhāṃ vinā api na nibadhyate — even by acting alone, even without jnana-nishtha, he is not bound.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.