Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 22

Chapter 4 – Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः ।
समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥

Transliteration

yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ .
samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate ॥

Meaning

Content with whatever comes to him unsought, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, and even-minded in success and failure — such a person, though acting, is not bound.

Word meanings

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टः – content with whatever comes of its own accord, unsought
द्वन्द्वातीतः – gone beyond the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain
विमत्सरः – free from envy and jealousy
समः – even-minded, balanced
सिद्धौ – in success, when the work is accomplished
असिद्धौ – in failure, when it is not accomplished
च – and
कृत्वा – having acted
अपि – even
न – not
निबध्यते – is bound

Anvaya (word order)

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टः द्वन्द्वातीतः विमत्सरः सिद्धौ असिद्धौ च समः (सः) कृत्वा अपि न निबध्यते ।

Explanation

The description of the sage that began in 4.19 continues in this verse. In the previous verse Krishna spoke of the seeker who is free from expectation and possessiveness; now He names four more marks of his inner state — contentment with what comes unsought, freedom from the pairs of opposites, absence of envy, and evenness in success and failure.

‘Yadriccha-labha-santushtah’ — content with whatever comes of its own accord. This does not mean laziness; it means the mind is free from the restless hunger for ‘more, and still more’. Shankara has in mind particularly the renunciate who, for the bare upkeep of the body, accepts whatever arrives without asking for it. Yet the attitude is just as meaningful for the householder who follows Karma Yoga: after making the proper effort, he accepts the result that comes as a gift, without complaint.

‘Dvandvatitah’ — beyond the pairs of opposites: heat and cold, pleasure and pain, honour and insult, gain and loss. These never disappear from life, but the wise person is not shaken by them; he bears them and sees beyond them. ‘Vimatsarah’ — free from envy, from the burning feeling at another's progress. Envy is a subtle fault; one who has found fullness within sees no loss to himself in another's success.

‘Samah siddhav asiddhau cha’ — even in success and failure. This is the same evenness of mind that Krishna gave as the very definition of yoga in 2.48: ‘samatvam yoga uchyate’. Such a person ‘kritvapi na nibadhyate’ — is not bound even though he acts, because bondage does not come from action itself but from the attachment, ego and anxiety about results that cling to it. When these are gone, action remains simply action; it no longer becomes a chain.

Context

In 4.21 Krishna said that one free from expectation, self-controlled and without possessions incurs no sin while doing only what the body needs. Here He describes the same sage's contentment, freedom from opposites and evenness of mind. In the next verse (4.23) He says that all the actions of a liberated person who works in the spirit of sacrifice dissolve completely.

Life lesson

Life will not always go according to our wishes — sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. Give every task your sincere best, then accept what comes with a calm mind, and learn to rejoice in the progress of others; that is real freedom of mind.

Key terms

Yadriccha-labha: whatever comes naturally, without being sought
Dvandva: the pairs of opposites, such as pleasure and pain, honour and insult
Matsara: envy at the progress of others
Samatva: evenness of mind in success and failure