EQUANIMITY- SAMADHARSHANAM

Subhashitham:003

निन्दन्तु नीतिनिपुणा यदि वा स्तुवन्तु

लक्ष्मीः समाविशतु गच्छतु  वा यथेष्टम् ।

अद्यैव वा मरणमस्तु युगान्तरे वा

न्याय्यात्पथः प्रविचलन्ति पदं न धीराः ॥ ८

83. The man of wisdom may be blamed or praised by

Those   skilled in discerning character ; fortune may come

to him or may leave him ; he may die to-day or in ten

thousand years' time ; but for all that he does not turn

aside from the path of righteousness.

This subhashitha is from Bharthruhari’s Niti satakam. Here, he is mentioning how a noble man is beyond the pairs of opposites. The Bhagavath Gita calls such a person by different names. A sthitha pragya, Guna athitha, Gyani bhaktha and so on.

Here are some of the gems from the  gita echoing similar thoughts on the nature of  a” man of Wisdom” :

·        सुखदु:खे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ |
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि || 38||

sukha-duḥkhe same kṛitvā lābhālābhau jayājayau
tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi

BG 2.38: Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.

·                            सम: शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयो: |

शीतोष्णसुखदु:खेषु सम: सङ्गविवर्जित: || 18||

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् |

अनिकेत: स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नर: || 19||

samaḥ śhatrau cha mitre cha tathā mānāpamānayoḥ

śhītoṣhṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣhu samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ

tulya-nindā-stutir maunī santuṣhṭo yena kenachit

aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ

BG Ch 12.Sloka 18-19: Those, who are alike to friend and foe, equipoised in honour and dishonour, cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and are free from all unfavourable association; those who take praise and reproach alike, who are given to silent contemplation, content with what comes their way, without attachment to the place of residence, whose intellect is firmly fixed in Me, and who are full of devotion to Me, such persons are very dear to Me.

SRI KRISHNAYA THUBHYAM NAMAH