Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verse 7

Chapter 6 – Dhyana Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहितः ।
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु तथा मानापमानयोः ॥

Transliteration

jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ .
śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ ॥

Meaning

For one who has conquered himself and is deeply at peace, the Supreme Self remains steadily present — in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, and likewise in honour and dishonour.

Word meanings

जितात्मनः – of one who has conquered the mind
प्रशान्तस्य – of one who is serene
परमात्मा – the Supreme Self (or the highest self within)
समाहितः – steadily established, concentrated
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु – in cold and heat, pleasure and pain
तथा – likewise
मानापमानयोः – in honour and dishonour

Anvaya (word order)

जितात्मनः प्रशान्तस्य (पुरुषस्य) परमात्मा शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु तथा मानापमानयोः समाहितः (भवति) ।

Explanation

What is the fruit of making the mind one's friend? Krishna answers that within the self-conquered and serene person the Supreme shines steadily. His awareness of the Divine does not depend on a particular time or place; it remains unshaken amid all the dualities of life.

Krishna names three pairs of opposites — cold and heat at the level of the body, pleasure and pain at the level of the mind, and honour and dishonour at the level of society and ego. An ordinary person is tossed about by all three. Heat and cold make the body restless, pleasure and pain push the mind up and down, and praise and blame inflate or wound the ego. The self-conquered person watches all of these come and go like passing seasons.

The phrase paramatma samahitah has been read in two ways. For Shankara, the self of such a person becomes 'supreme', directly the Supreme Self, and he abides in constant absorption. Ramanuja reads paramatma as 'the highest self', the pure nature of the individual soul, and explains that even amid dualities such a person's mind stays concentrated on the Self.

The essence of both readings is the same: circumstances change, but the inner centre does not. This is the true samadhi that remains even with the eyes open.

Context

Verses 6.5–6 taught the need to conquer the mind; this verse describes the fruit of that conquest. Verses 6.8–9 go on to describe the yogi's evenness toward objects and toward people in greater detail.

Life lesson

Heat and cold, gain and loss, praise and criticism will keep coming. Stopping them is not in our hands, but not letting them shake our inner peace is within the reach of practice. The next time you hear criticism, pause for a moment and recall the steady centre within.

Key terms

Jitatma: one who has conquered mind and senses
Prashanta: deeply serene, free of attraction and aversion
Samahita: concentrated, steadily established
Dvandva: pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain