📿 Shloka Collection

Matra-sparshas Tu Kaunteya

Gita 2.14 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥
Matra-sparshas tu Kaunteya shitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah
Agamapayino'nityas tams titikshasva Bharata
मात्रास्पर्शाः
contact of the senses with their objects
तु
indeed
कौन्तेय
O son of Kunti (Arjuna)
शीतोष्ण
cold and heat
सुखदुःखदाः
giving pleasure and pain
आगमापायिनः
coming and going
अनित्याः
impermanent
तान्
them
तितिक्षस्व
endure
भारत
O descendant of Bharata

Cold and heat, pleasure and pain — these arise when the senses meet the world. They come, and they go. They are not permanent. Endure them, O Bharata. Krishna is pointing at something every person has experienced: seasons change. Winter does not last forever. Summer passes. The chill that makes you shiver today will be a memory next month.

The same is true for emotional experience. The grief Arjuna feels right now — sharp, unbearable, all-consuming — will not remain at this intensity forever. It will shift, soften, transform. That does not mean the grief is fake. It means it is temporary, like every other sensation that depends on circumstances.

The word 'titikshasva' — endure, bear with patience — is not passive. It does not mean 'suffer quietly and do nothing.' It means: understand that this will pass, and do not let a passing sensation derail you from your duty. A farmer does not abandon the field because one season is harsh.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, this shloka shifts from the philosophical (the soul is eternal) to the practical (how to handle the discomfort of the present moment). Krishna has explained why grief is misplaced; now he addresses how to cope with it in the body.

The very next shloka (2.15) reveals the reward of this endurance: the one who remains equal in pleasure and pain becomes fit for immortality.

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