Bhakti ArohanBhakti Arohan

Bhagavad Gita — Chapter 2, Verse 14

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः । आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥ १४ ॥

mātrā-sparśhās tu kaunteya śhītoṣhṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ āgamāpāyino ’nityās tāns-titikṣhasva bhārata

Translation

The fleeting contact between the senses and their objects gives rise to sensations of heat and cold, pleasure and pain. These come and go, impermanent as the seasons — learn to endure them steadily, Arjun.

Hindi Meaning (हिंदी अर्थ)

इंद्रियों और उनके विषयों के क्षणिक संपर्क से सर्दी-गर्मी, सुख-दुख जैसी अनुभूतियाँ उत्पन्न होती हैं। ये ऋतुओं की भाँति आती-जाती रहती हैं, स्थायी नहीं — हे अर्जुन, इन्हें धैर्यपूर्वक सहन करना सीखो।

Commentary

This verse addresses Arjun's distress before battle by pointing to a universal pattern: every sensation born of contact between the senses and the world is temporary. Heat gives way to cold, joy to sorrow, and back again, the way seasons cycle without ever settling permanently on one state. Krishna isn't asking Arjun to feel nothing — he's asking him to recognise that these fluctuations are exactly that, fluctuations, not the true, unchanging self underneath them, and so not worth being destabilised by.