Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 14 (BG 2.14) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 2.14 According to the Vedantic process of sense perception, knowledge of external objects comes through the senses. The senses are merely instruments through which the individual soul perceives and knows objects. Without the presence of the conscious being, the senses alone cannot produce knowledge of objects. It is universally recognized that the same object can produce different experiences in different persons. The reason for these differing experiences lies in the difference in the mental constitution of those two individuals. It has also been observed that an object which was once deeply cherished by a person may become disagreeable in another phase of life, because as time passes, the mind too undergoes transformation. In essence, it is clear that experience becomes possible only when our senses come into contact with external objects through the body. The person who understands that the objects of the world are eternally changing, constantly arising and perishing, will never allow himself to be disturbed by them. In the flow of time, future events take the form of the present and, after providing us with various experiences, continuously merge into the past. No object in this world can exist even for a moment without undergoing change. Here, change itself is the one unchanging law. Understanding this law, the wise person who comprehends that things with beginning and end may or may not exist finds no cause for grief. Cold and heat, success and failure, pleasure and pain—none of these are eternal. When the nature of reality is such, to become agitated or anxious over every changing circumstance is merely a sign of ignorance. One should bear the sufferings that come in life with equanimity, without anxiety. In all favorable and unfavorable circumstances, the discerning person always keeps in mind this truth: this too shall pass. The objects of the world are limited because they have a beginning and an end. The Blessed Lord says that these objects are by nature impermanent. By the word impermanent is meant that the same object can be pleasant for one person at one time and unpleasant at another. Listen now—what benefit comes to the person who bears cold, heat, and such opposites with equanimity?