बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः | सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च || ४ ||
buddhir jñānam asammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo 'bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayam eva ca
buddhiḥ—intelligence; jñānam—knowledge; asammohaḥ—freedom from delusion; kṣamā—forgiveness; satyam—truthfulness; damaḥ—control of the senses; śamaḥ—control of the mind; sukham—happiness; duḥkham—distress; bhavaḥ—birth; abhāvaḥ—death; bhayam—fear; ca—and; abhayam—fearlessness; eva—certainly; ca—and.
“Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, self-control of the senses and of the mind, happiness and distress, birth and death, fear and fearlessness —”
This verse begins a list of twenty qualities that originate from the Lord Himself. They are not produced by human effort alone; each positive quality is a ray of the Divine shining through the instrument of a purified mind. Understanding their divine source removes spiritual pride and inspires us to cultivate these qualities as acts of worship.
Every noble quality you observe in yourself or others — clarity of thought, genuine forgiveness, courage — is a manifestation of the Divine. This perspective transforms character development from ego-building into an act of recognizing and expressing what is already present at the deepest level of being.