Sanskrit
सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ । ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ॥
sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpam avāpsyasi
Translation
Taking as equal pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, gird thee for the battle; thus thou shalt not incur sin.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The first statement of what becomes the chapter’s central practical teaching: treat pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal, and then act. This isn’t indifference to outcome as a matter of temperament — it’s a discipline: engage fully in the action while refusing to let the anticipated result distort the decision to act. Verses 47–48 return to this same idea and give it its technical name, yoga.
Concepts