Bhagavad Gita 12.18 Meaning: Samah shatrau cha mitre cha

Bhagavad Gita 12.18

समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः ।शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥

Samah shatrau cha mitre cha tatha manapamanayohShitoshnasukhaduhkheshu samah sangavivarjitah

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ |śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅgavivarjitaḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna continues. Such a person is the same towards enemy and friend, in honour and dishonour, in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, and is free from attachment. The sentence continues in the next verse.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण आगे कहते हैं कि ऐसा व्यक्ति शत्रु और मित्र के प्रति, मान और अपमान में, सर्दी और गर्मी में, सुख और दुःख में समान रहता है, और आसक्ति से मुक्त है। यह वाक्य अगले श्लोक में पूरा होता है।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

समः samaḥ · the same, even (nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. sama, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1152, col. 1 “even, smooth, flat, plain, level; same, equal”
शत्रौ śatrau · to a foe (locative singular) Dictionary: śatru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1051, col. 1 “an enemy, foe, rival”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
मित्रे mitre · to a friend (locative singular) Dictionary: 1. mitra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 816, col. 1 “a friend, companion, associate”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
तथा tathā · so too (indeclinable) Dictionary: tathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 3 “in that manner, so, thus”
मानापमानयोः mānāpamānayoḥ · in honour and dishonour (compound, locative dual) Dictionary: 1. māna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 809, col. 1 “consideration, regard, respect, honour”; apa-māna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 50, col. 2 “disrespect, contempt, disgrace”
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu · in cold and heat, pleasure and pain (compound, locative plural) Dictionary: śītoṣṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1078, col. 1 “cold and heat”; sukha-duḥkha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1221, col. 1 “pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow”
समः samaḥ · the same, even (nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. sama, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1152, col. 1 “even, smooth, flat, plain, level; same, equal”
सङ्गविवर्जितः saṅgavivarjitaḥ · free from attachment (compound, nominative singular) Dictionary: saṅga, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1132, col. 3 “(esp.) worldly or selfish attachment or affection, desire”; vi-varjita, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 988, col. 3 “avoided, left, abandoned by, destitute or deprived of, free or exempt from”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानपमानयोः ।
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥ The print reads मानपमानयोः, without the ā sign after न; read as a dropped vowel sign and restored, because māna + apamāna joins as mānāpamāna and both proofreading references read मानापमानयोः.
Spelling The 1922 Madras printing reads: समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानपमानयोः The 1922 base printing (leaf n192) reads मानपमानयोः, a dropped vowel sign; see normalisations. The correction was decided on 12 Oct 2026 and is kept.

I. e. governs his tongue properly. Cf. Sutta Nipâta, p. 55, and Dhammapada, stanza 96. ↩

Cf. Sutta Nipâta, pp. 94, 101, 122; Âpastamba, Dharma-sûtra, p. 86 (p. 152 in this series); and Dhammapada, stanzas 40–91 (where the identical word is used). ↩

I. e. governs his tongue properly. Cf. Sutta Nipâta, p. 55, and Dhammapada, stanza 96. ↩

Cf. Sutta Nipâta, pp. 94, 101, 122; Âpastamba, Dharma-sûtra, p. 86 (p. 152 in this series); and Dhammapada, stanzas 40–91 (where the identical word is used). ↩

Bhagavad Gita 12.18: meaning and translation

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