Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 38

Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ ।
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ॥

Transliteration

sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau .
tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpamavāpsyasi ॥

Meaning

Treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, engage in battle. Fighting thus, you will incur no sin.

Word meanings

सुखदुःखे – pleasure and pain
समे – alike, equal
कृत्वा – having made, treating
लाभालाभौ – gain and loss
जयाजयौ – victory and defeat
ततः – then
युद्धाय – for battle
युज्यस्व – engage, prepare yourself
न – not
एवम् – thus
पापम् – sin
अवाप्स्यसि – you will incur

Anvaya (word order)

सुखदुःखे लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ (च) समे कृत्वा ततः युद्धाय युज्यस्व; एवं (त्वं) पापं न अवाप्स्यसि ।

Explanation

This verse is a decisive turning point in the Gita's teaching. In the previous verse Krishna spoke of the fruits of fighting — heaven or a kingdom. Now He says: forget even these fruits. Treat alike the three pairs — pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat — and then fight.

Three pairs of opposites are named, which accompany every human action. ‘Sukha-duhkha’, pleasure and pain, is the experience while acting; ‘labha-alabha’, gain and loss, is the result; ‘jaya-ajaya’, victory and defeat, is success or failure in competition. To remain even in all three is ‘samatva’, equanimity, which Krishna will soon (2.48) call yoga itself.

‘Naivam papam avapsyasi’ — thus you will incur no sin. This answers Arjuna's deepest fear. He dreaded the sin of killing his kinsmen. Krishna explains that sin arises not from the outer form of an action but from the motive behind it. An action performed free of attachment and aversion, greed and ego, purely as duty, does not bind.

Shankara notes that this verse closes the discussion of svadharma and prepares the ground for the karma yoga to follow. Here the seed of ‘nishkama karma’, desireless action, is sown.

In modern life this verse is a formula for freedom from stress. When we give ourselves fully to our work without anxiety over results, the mind stays calm, decisions become clear and the quality of our work improves.

Context

In 2.37 Krishna said both outcomes of the battle are beneficial. Here He rises above results and teaches action with equanimity. In the next verse (2.39) He says that so far He has taught Sankhya; now Arjuna should hear the wisdom of Yoga (karma yoga).

Life lesson

Do your duty wholeheartedly, letting go of anxiety over success and failure, gain and loss. When action is free of selfishness and of likes and dislikes, it does not weigh upon the mind.

Key terms

Samatva: evenness of mind amid the opposites
Labhalabha: gain and loss
Jayajaya: victory and defeat