Mahakatha
M 80% OFF

Chapter 5 · Verse 20 · Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Bhagavad Gita 5.20

serene Jnana & Wisdom Attachment & Letting Go Self & Identity

Sanskrit

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्। स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः।।5.20।।

Transliteration

na prahṛiṣhyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya chāpriyam sthira-buddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

Word by Word

na neither
prahṛiṣhyet rejoice
priyam the pleasant
prāpya obtaining
na nor
udvijet become disturbed
prāpya attaining
cha also
apriyam the unpleasant
sthira-buddhiḥ steady intellect
asammūḍhaḥ firmly situated
brahma-vit having a firm understanding of divine knowledge
brahmaṇi established in God
sthitaḥ situated
Simplified Perspective

This verse unveils the hallmark of a realized soul — the equipoise that transcends the dance of pleasure and pain. When you truly know Brahman, the eternal substratum of existence, you no longer contract with joy or expand with sorrow, because you recognize both as fleeting movements in the unchanging Self.

The sage stands rooted in this knowing, unmoved by life's oscillations. In modern life, this means developing the inner stability to respond to success and failure, gain and loss, with the same centered presence — not through suppression, but through understanding that your true nature is untouched by circumstance.

Listen

Bhagavad Gita 5.20 — BG 5.20

0:00
Sanskrit text from the Bhagavad Gita (public domain). Commentary © Mahakatha.

Your Mantra Prescription

This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?

2.2M people trust Mahakatha