Bg. 4.22 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

यदृच्छालाभसंतुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः । समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥ २२ ॥

Verse text

yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate

Synonyms

yadṛcchā — out of its own accord ; lābha — with gain ; santuṣṭaḥ — satisfied ; dvandva — duality ; atītaḥ — surpassed ; vimatsaraḥ — free from envy ; samaḥ — steady ; siddhau — in success ; asiddhau — failure ; ca — also ; kṛtvā — doing ; api — although ; na — never ; nibadhyate — becomes affected.

Translation

He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

22. Satisfied with what comes of its own accord, free of dualities, free of envy, calm in the face of success or failure, though engaging in work, that person is not bound.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

22. Satisfied with what comes of its own accord, tolerant of dualities, free of envy, calm in the face of success or failure, though engaging in work, that person is not bound.

Purport

A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not make much endeavor even to maintain his body. He is satisfied with gains which are obtained of their own accord. He neither begs nor borrows, but he labors honestly as far as is in his power, and is satisfied with whatever is obtained by his own honest labor. He is therefore independent in his livelihood. He does not allow anyone’s service to hamper his own service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. However, for the service of the Lord he can participate in any kind of action without being disturbed by the duality of the material world. The duality of the material world is felt in terms of heat and cold, or misery and happiness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is above duality because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is steady both in success and in failure. These signs are visible when one is fully in transcendental knowledge.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

This verses shows that one should not make extra effort to attain food or clothing for ones bodily maintenance. That person is satisfied with what is attained on its own, without asking for it. He is tolerant (atītaḥ) of dualities such as heat and cold. He does not have hatred of those who attack him (vimatsaraḥ). He is equal (samaḥ), being devoid of joy at what comes of its own accord, and devoid of lamentation when nothing comes. Though doing actions to maintain his body in this way, he is not bound by the various actions. He is not contaminated because of the influence of steadiness in jṣāna.