Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 14

Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥

Transliteration

mātrāsparśāstu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ .
āgamāpāyino.anityāstāṃstitikṣasva bhārata ॥

Meaning

O son of Kunti, the contacts of the senses with their objects give rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go and are impermanent. Bear them patiently, O Bharata.

Word meanings

मात्रास्पर्शाः – contacts of the senses with their objects
तु – indeed
कौन्तेय – O son of Kunti
शीत-उष्ण – cold and heat
सुख-दुःख-दाः – giving pleasure and pain
आगम-अपायिनः – coming and going
अनित्याः – impermanent
तान् – them
तितिक्षस्व – endure, bear patiently
भारत – O descendant of Bharata

Anvaya (word order)

कौन्तेय, मात्रास्पर्शाः तु शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः आगमापायिनः अनित्याः (च सन्ति) । भारत, तान् तितिक्षस्व ।

Explanation

Having established the eternity of the Self, Krishna answers a practical question: if the Self is immortal, why do we suffer at all? Suffering, He explains, belongs not to the Self but to the meeting of the senses with their objects. ‘Matra’ refers to the senses (by which objects are measured) or to the objects themselves, and ‘sparsha’ is their contact. These contacts produce the pairs of opposites — cold and heat, pleasure and pain.

Two features of such experiences are named. They are ‘agamapayinah’, they arrive and depart; and they are ‘anityah’, they do not last. Winter comes and goes; so does summer. In the same way praise and blame, gain and loss, meeting and parting are never permanent. To be permanently shaken by what is itself impermanent is a failure of discernment.

So Krishna says, ‘tams titikshasva’ — endure them. Titiksha, forbearance, is an essential discipline in Vedanta: bearing the opposites without complaint and without being driven by them. It is not suppression but endurance with understanding, knowing that ‘this too shall pass’.

Shankara observes that for one who knows the eternal nature of the Self, these passing experiences do not become obstacles. For Arjuna it means that even the pain of losing his kinsmen is such a passing experience, and is no reason to abandon his duty.

In today's stressful world this verse is a master-key to resilience. In a hard situation, remind yourself that it is not permanent; that alone helps you pass through it with patience and calm.

Context

In 2.13 Krishna showed that the Self does not change when bodies change. Here He explains that pleasure and pain are passing experiences of the senses, to be endured. In the next verse (2.15) He says that one who is not disturbed by them becomes fit for immortality.

Life lesson

Pleasure and pain, heat and cold, success and failure all come and go. In difficult times hold steady and remember that this too will pass; forbearance is the foundation of inner strength.

Key terms

Matra-sparsha: contact of senses with objects
Agamapayi: coming and going, transient
Titiksha: forbearance; enduring the pairs of opposites