'Samatvam yoga uchyate' — equanimity is yoga. In five Sanskrit words, Krishna gives one of the most complete definitions of yoga ever spoken. Not postures, not breathing exercises, not withdrawal from the world — but the simple, radical act of remaining even-minded through success and failure alike.
This shloka completes what 2.47 began. There, Krishna said: act without clinging to results. Here, he says: and when the results come — good or bad — remain steady. Do not swell with pride when things go well. Do not crumble when they go poorly. Stay anchored. That inner steadiness, maintained while fully engaged in the work of living, is what deserves to be called yoga.
Picture an old banyan tree in the middle of a monsoon. Wind bends its branches. Rain pounds its leaves. The ground around it turns to mud. But the tree does not panic, does not try to uproot itself and run to shelter. It stands. It bends where it must. It holds where it can. And when the storm passes, it is still there — unchanged in its essential nature. Krishna is asking Arjuna to be that tree. Act fully. Engage completely. But let neither triumph nor disaster move you from your center.