Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 20 (BG 5.20)

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कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 20 — Meaning & Commentary | Live Gita

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न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् |
स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ||५-२०||

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam . sthirabuddhirasammūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||5-20||

Resting in Brahman, with steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of Brahman neither rejoiceth on obtaining what is pleasant nor grieveth on obtaining what is unpleasant.

In simple words

Krishna describes the steady person: "Someone who rests in the infinite, whose mind is firm and clear, does not get excited when something pleasant happens and does not get upset when something unpleasant happens. They stay the same."

Word-by-word meanings

नnotप्रहृष्येत्should rejoiceप्रियम्the pleasantप्राप्यhaving obtainedनnotउद्विजेत्should be troubledप्राप्यhaving obtainedचandअप्रियम्the unpleasantस्थिरबुद्धिःone with steady intellectअसम्मूढःundeludedब्रह्मवित्knower of Brahmanब्रह्मणिin Brahmanस्थितः

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

5.20 न not? प्रहृष्येत् should rejoice? प्रियम् the pleasant? प्राप्य having obtained? न not? उद्विजेत् should be troubled? प्राप्य having obtained? च and? अप्रियम् the unpleasant? स्थिरबुद्धिः one with steady intellect? असम्मूढः undeluded? ब्रह्मवित् knower of Brahman? ब्रह्मणि in Brahman? स्थितः established.Commentary This is the state of a Jivanmukta or a liberated sage or a Brahmana who identifies himself with the Self or Atman. He always has a balanced mind. He is never deluded. He has abandoned all actions as he rests in Brahman. He who has an unbalanced mind? who identifies himself with the body and mind feels pleasure and pain? exhilaration of spirits when he gets a pleasant object and grief when he obtains an unpleasant object. (Cf.VI.21?27?28XIII.12XIV.20)

Swami Chinmayananda

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

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Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

Swami Sivananda

Swami Chinmayananda

# BG 5.20 A skilled painter creates his most beautiful work by repeatedly drawing lines upon the canvas with his brush, perfecting each detail, and then stepping back to observe his creation. In the same manner, Lord Sri Krishna, like a master artist, inscribes upon the canvas of the human heart the portrait of the wise person, painting therein the sentiments and virtues of the enlightened mind with exquisite beauty. Through numerous shlokas describing the wise person, the Lord's sole purpose is that an ordinary person may clearly understand the characteristics of one who is wise. He clarifies that a great soul is not a lifeless stone statue on the banks of the Ganges, but rather a vibrant, capable, and skillful being who influences his generation and brings about its transformation. It is not the events that occur in the external world that cause a person to be excited with joy or dejected with sorrow, but rather one's relationship to those events. The death of a stranger in a great city does not grieve a person, yet the death of one's own father becomes a sorrowful event. This makes clear that it is not mere death that causes sorrow, but rather one's relationship with the deceased. The person who has conquered his mind and is established in the infinite form of Brahman does not get swept away by the waves of pleasure or pain upon encountering what is dear or what is unpleasant. This does not mean he is like a wooden toy or stone statue, incapable of knowing or responding to events in the world. The meaning of this shloka is that through knowledge, he attains such equanimity of mind that these events cannot disturb or shake him. The intellect of one who knows the truth becomes established in knowledge because the poison of ego and the false notions born from it are entirely absent within him. The sequence in which the characteristics of the wise person are presented here is most fascinating. One whose mind remains unshaken by the presence of pleasant and unpleasant things is a person of steady intellect. The person of steady intellect becomes free from delusion. One in whose mind there is no attachment whatsoever becomes a worthy recipient of the knowledge of Brahman and thus becomes one who knows Brahman. And the one who knows Brahman becomes Brahman itself, established in his true nature, moving through this world. He continues to say further...

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 20 (BG 5.20) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

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