71 shlokas with meaning and life application
Bhagavad Gita shlokas on the quality of Equanimity 71 verses with meaning and application.
Equanimity is the trait of staying even-minded in different conditions. It does not mean suppressing joy or sorrow. It means that neither takes over. People with equanimity are often easy to be around, because they do not pass their moods to others. They also tend to make clearer decisions, since fear and excitement have less hold on them. The Gita treats it as central to yoga.
Gita 2.48 says yoga is performing action while established in balance, free from attachment and unmoved by success or failure, so treat success and failure with the same inner evenness. Gita 2.38 says acting with an equal mind in gain and loss, victory and defeat, keeps action free from the bondage of results. Gita 2.56 describes a person who stays composed in sorrow, does not crave pleasure and is free from attachment, fear and anger, so practise staying composed in hardship.
Equanimity also meets what cannot be changed and how we treat others. Gita 2.27 says birth and death follow each other inevitably, so make peace with the inevitable and direct your energy toward what you can still do. Gita 5.19 praises equal vision as a sign of spiritual maturity, and Gita 12.15 describes someone who neither disturbs the world nor is disturbed by it. Gita 2.64 says peace comes from engaging the world while free from likes and dislikes, and Gita 18.54 describes a serene mind, free from grief and craving, ready for devotion.
The greatest yogi empathizes with all beings, regarding their happiness and suffering as no different from his own, and responds with equal concern and compassion.
In your life: Before speaking or acting, consider how you would feel if you were in the other person's situation, and let empathy guide your decisions.
Yoga means performing action while established in balance, free from attachment and unmoved by success or failure.
In your life: Treat success and failure with the same inner evenness so that your work stays steady and your mind stays calm.
Death is a transition in which the soul sheds a worn-out body just as a person changes old clothes for new.
In your life: Approach death and loss with understanding, seeing endings as transitions rather than complete destruction.
Equanimity
Evenness of mind in success and failure is the essence of yoga.
Equanimity
True wisdom remains steady in both joy and sorrow.
Equanimity
Equal vision is a sign of spiritual maturity and freedom.
Equanimity
Act with balance, and neither victory nor defeat will bind you.
Equanimity
Contentment and balance free the mind from bondage.
Equanimity
Equal vision toward all is the mark of an advanced yogi.
Equanimity
Pleasure and pain are visitors; endure them and they pass.
Equanimity
Be a source of peace for the world and stay untroubled by it.
Equanimity
A mind rooted in the Self stays level amid gain, loss, praise, and blame.
Equanimity
Steadiness amid change is the mark of one ready for freedom.
Equanimity
Freedom means neither resisting nor craving the states that come and go.
Equanimity
Likes and dislikes are the roots of delusion.
Equanimity
A devotion-filled mind is not ruled by joy, grief, desire or aversion.
Equanimity
Remain steady in all opposites and free from attachment.
Equanimity
Love without possessiveness and stay steady in every outcome.
Qualities of a Sage
The highest yoga expresses itself through genuine empathy.
Reincarnation
Death is a change of garment, not the end of the wearer.
Detachment
Let go of results and discover lasting peace.
Self Knowledge
Wisdom sees what lies beyond the changing body and does not grieve in vain.
Karma Yoga
Work sincerely, but do not become dependent on results.
Nature of God
True sight sees the one imperishable Lord in all perishing beings.
Reincarnation
The self remains constant through every change of body and circumstance.
Detachment
Freedom from attraction and aversion is the essence of true renunciation.
Qualities of a Sage
A serene mind, free of grief and craving and equal to all, is ready for devotion.
Qualities of a Sage
A steady mind is unshaken by sorrow and free from craving, fear and anger.
Action and Inaction
Attachment creates bondage; selfless action creates freedom.
Mind Control
A mastered mind remains peaceful in every situation.
Knowledge and Wisdom
Inner fulfillment makes worldly distinctions lose their power.
Surrender
Act fully, offer the fruits, and put down the fever.
Action and Inaction
Act fully, yet remember that you are the witness, not the ego-doer.
Inner Peace
Be like the ocean: full within and undisturbed by what flows in.
Death and Rebirth
Do not waste your peace grieving what cannot be avoided.
Qualities of a Sage
Seeing the one Lord everywhere ends the habit of harming others and oneself.
Three Gunas
Rise above the pull of nature's qualities and stay centered.
Inner Peace
Inner peace comes from engaging the world without being ruled by likes and dislikes.
Purusha
Nature acts; the self suffers or enjoys only through identification.
Nature of the Soul
The same indestructible self lives in every being.
Qualities of a Sage
Wisdom is steady in good and bad fortune alike.
Inner Peace
A serene mind lightens sorrow and steadies wisdom.
Jnana Yoga
The wise watch the play of nature without getting entangled in it.
Sense Control
Do not let likes and dislikes steer your life.
Qualities of a Sage
True freedom shows in how evenly you treat friend and foe.
Qualities of a Sage
Humility, detachment and inner steadiness open the way to the imperishable.
Spiritual Knowledge
True knowledge sees the one in the many.
Three Gunas
Moods and qualities arise within you, but they are not you.
Detachment
Act sincerely, then surrender the results.
Three Gunas
Do your duty without clinging, without aversion and without craving the fruit.
Liberation
Letting go of the fruits of action opens the way to freedom.
Detachment
Do what must be done, yet remain inwardly free like a witness.
Liberation
Offer the action and release the result to become free.
Divine and Demonic Nature
Ego and anger blind us to the divinity in ourselves and others.
Three Gunas
Be steadfast and enthusiastic, yet unmoved by outcome.
Sense Control
Self-mastery, equanimity and goodwill for all lead to the Divine.
Universal Form
All paths and beings finally flow toward the Supreme.
Nature of the Soul
Like the sky, the self holds everything and is stained by nothing.
Qualities of a Sage
A steady mind does not hate the unpleasant or cling to the pleasant.
Sense Control
A clear intellect, a disciplined self and freedom from likes and dislikes begin the path.
Detachment
Real freedom is needing nothing from the world to feel whole.
Nature of the Soul
Knowing the changeless self puts an end to needless grief.
Death and Rebirth
Everything that ends is gathered back and begins again within a greater order.
Nature of God
Light and shadow, life and death all arise within one underlying reality.
Field and Knower
Likes, dislikes, joy and pain are part of the field that you witness.
Karma
Whoever lets go of the fruits is not bound by them.
Three Gunas
A mind that craves results swings between elation and grief.
Prakriti
All things arise from the unmanifest and return to it.
Nature of God
Goodness, balance, and even reputation are not ours to cling to.
Universal Form
Creation and dissolution both belong to the Supreme.
Guru
A calm and kind guide brings light to a troubled mind.
Death and Rebirth
Change is natural; grief over it is unnecessary.
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