Verse 20
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् | स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः || २० ||
Transliteration
na prahṛṣyet priyaṃ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam sthira-buddhir asammūḍho brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ
Synonyms
na—never; prahṛṣyet—rejoices excessively; priyam—the pleasant; prāpya—obtaining; na—never; udvijet—is agitated; prāpya—obtaining; ca—also; apriyam—the unpleasant; sthira-buddhiḥ—steady in intelligence; asammūḍhaḥ—unbewildered; brahma-vit—one who knows the Supreme; brahmaṇi—in the Absolute; sthitaḥ—established.
Translation
“One who neither rejoices on obtaining something pleasant nor grieves on obtaining something unpleasant, who is steady in intellect, unbewildered — is the knower of Brahman, established in Brahman.”
Multi-Tradition Commentary
The Brahma-jnani (knower of Brahman) is not an emotionless stone. He experiences life fully, but his essential ground of being is not shaken by the storms of fortune and misfortune. When pleasant things arrive, he enjoys them without grasping. When unpleasant things arrive, he endures them without resentment. This equanimity is not cultivated suppression; it is the natural stability of one whose identity is anchored in the unchanging Self.
Practical Application (Modern Life)
Measure your inner progress not by how much pleasure you accumulate, but by how stable your inner baseline remains through ups and downs. Genuine spiritual growth shows itself in increased equanimity — a growing ability to meet life's vicissitudes without being swept away.