Chapter 12, Verse 18
Bhakti Yoga — Sanskrit shloka, transliteration, word meanings, English translation, and commentary.
Original Sanskrit verse
Transliteration
Word meanings
samaḥ—alike; śhatrau—to a foe; cha—and; mitre—to a friend; cha tathā—as well as; māna-apamānayoḥ—in honor and dishonor; śhīta-uṣhṇa—in cold and heat; sukha-duḥkheṣhu—in joy and sorrow; samaḥ—equipoised; saṅga-vivarjitaḥ—free from all unfavorable association;
English translation
He who is the same to foe and friend, and also in honor and dishonor, who is the same in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment.
— Swami Sivananda
Listen to Shloka 12.18
Commentary
The ordinary man of the world is ruled by the pairs of opposites; honour and dishonour; cold and heat and pleasure and pain but a Yogi or a sage or a devotee (Bhagavata) has a balanced mind. He has poise or eanimity. He is not at all swayed by the blind forces of attraction and repulsion. He who does wrong to others is a foe. He who does good to others is a friend. The devotee or the sage has no attachment for objects of any kind.
Commentary by Swami Sivananda
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