Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja both conclude the verse points toward amṛtatva, yet Śaṅkara routes it through nityātmadarśana (vision of the eternal Self) while Rāmānuja routes it through niṣkāma-karma (action without desire for fruit): can these be genuinely the same path, or does calling them both 'preparation for liberation' conceal a deep disagreement about what liberation means?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

The verse says the dhīra is not disturbed by heat and cold — but is this insensitivity, or is it a different relationship to sensation altogether? What does sama-duḥkha-sukhatva (equanimity in pain and pleasure) preserve that pure insensibility would destroy?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

Madhva grounds equanimity in the jīva's ontological separateness from the body: if that separateness is the reason disturbances cannot truly reach the puruṣa, why does the verse require practice or dhairya (steadfastness) at all — should not the truth of non-identity be immediately obvious?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

Vallabha reduces the verse to a single word, sahana (endurance), and names it the cause of amṛtatva directly. Is endurance here a passive reception of Kṛṣṇa's will, or is it an active cultivation — and does Vallabha's compression actually resolve or merely defer that question?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

Śrīdhara argues that attempting to eliminate the contacts of pleasure and pain is less fruitful than enduring them. What is the practical difference between avoidance of the dvandva (pairs of opposites) and genuine equanimity — and how would one know, from the inside, which one is operating?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

Madhusūdana's commentary is the longest of the panel, covering the relationship between bhoktṛtva (the status of enjoyer), antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument), and ātman. Does the philosophical labour he invests here strengthen the devotional conclusion he reaches, or does it displace the verse's directness with a different kind of consolation?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

All six schools agree that amṛtatva (immortality) is the fruit, yet they define it differently — jñāna-mukti, kainkarya-liberation, Hari-realization, Kṛṣṇa-prasāda, dharma-jñāna-mokṣa, brahman-ātman-aikya. Does the verse itself adjudicate between these, or is its boundedness precisely what allows each school to find its own deepest claim confirmed here?

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/2/15.

BG 2.15 — Sāṅkhya-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 2.15Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Puruṣarṣabha · anuṣṭubh

यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ ।

समदुःखसुखं धीरं सो ऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते ॥

yaṃ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha

sama-duḥkha-sukhaṃ dhīraṃ so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna names what such endurance unlocks. "Purusharshabha — bull among men — the person whom these contacts do not torment, who is the same in pain and pleasure, the steady one — he is fit for amrita." The address is praise. Bull among men.

Krishna is naming Arjuna as the kind of person capable of this — not lecturing, not shaming, but speaking to the part of Arjuna that the kshatriya-discipline has already trained. The condition has three pieces. Sama-duhkha-sukham — same in pain and pleasure. Dhiram — steady, undisturbed. The contacts that come — cold heat pleasure pain — do not vyathayanti — do not torment. The result is named without softening: amritatvaya kalpate — fit for amrita. Not amrita arrives. Fit for it.

Ramsukhdas Maharaj reads sama not as indifference but as inner steadiness. The pleasure when it comes is registered. The pain when it comes is registered. Neither is denied. But the steadiness underneath is not displaced by the registering. The same I that was there before the contact is the same I that is there during, the same I that remains after. Notice what Krishna is doing structurally. Arjuna had said in 2.8 — even sovereignty over the devas would not remove this grief. He had assumed the only way out is to remove the conditions producing the grief.

Krishna is showing a different way. The conditions can stay. The grief can come. What changes is the standing-place from which they are met. Amrita is not a place to escape to. It is what becomes available when the standing-place stops moving with every contact.

Context

where

Chapter 2 · Sāṅkhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Puruṣarṣabha

preceded by — BG 2.14

Sensations of cold, heat, pleasure, and pain come from the body's contact with the world; they rise and pass away, Arjuna, so bear them.

What's going on

The person whom sorrow and joy cannot shake, who bears both steadily, becomes fit for immortality.

Sūtras through this verse (111)

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.───→here2.15───→2.16The unreal never is; the real never fades.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.───→here2.15───→2.38Equal in win and loss, no sin can stick.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here2.15───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

show all 111

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.───→here2.15───→2.24When two scriptures clash the higher one rules.

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here2.15───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here2.15───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here2.15───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here2.15───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here2.15───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here2.15───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here2.15───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here2.15───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordapproach

───→here2.15───→4.6Even the unborn descends through the deluder Durgā.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here2.15───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

2.10Thesis flat───→here2.15───→3.4Naishkarmya is not just non-doing

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralbetween

2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta───→here2.15───→2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit.' The atman is unborn, undying. Gaurav reaches fo

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha───→here2.15───→2.22'Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya' — body as worn-out clothes. Sister verse to 2.13,

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the ───→here2.15───→2.20'Na jayate mriyate va kadachit, nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah, ajo nityah sh

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

2.11The wise mourn neither the living nor the dead.───→here2.15───→2.69Ignorance is night, wisdom alone wakes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.───→here2.15───→3.4Mere not-doing is not renunciation at all.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.───→here2.15───→3.1If insight is higher, why this dreadful work?

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.───→here2.15───→3.4Brāhmaṇas seek the Self by Veda, then by rite.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sidebetween

2.14Heat-cold touch body, not the embodied.───→here2.15───→2.16Unreal has no being; real never ceases.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

2.13Body and self differ; self and self too.───→here2.15───→2.18Body ends, self does; jīva-jaḍa-bheda.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.───→here2.15───→2.72Old-age renunciation is off topic here.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.───→here2.15───→2.20Na jāyate mriyate echoes Kaṭha.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.───→here2.15───→2.16Sat-asat staged as objection-pair.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.───→here2.15───→2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga literal, not external schools.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥbetween

2.13Supply: no, he says. Netyāheti śeṣaḥ.───→here2.15───→2.23Three iti bhāvaḥ render the import.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here2.15───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsapproach

───→here2.15───→4.34Paramparā / direct transmission. 'Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, u

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here2.15───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here2.15───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11'Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham.' As they approach me, so I

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here2.15───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here2.15───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it wereapproach

───→here2.15───→4.6I appear as if born, never really, by māyā.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here2.15───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here2.15───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here2.15───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11Fruit proportional to the service offered.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here2.15───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here2.15───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workapproach

───→here2.15───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here2.15───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here2.15───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here2.15───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here2.15───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here2.15───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaexit

2.11'Ashochyan anvashochas tvam prajna-vadamsh cha bhashase.' You grieve those not t───→here2.15───→

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourbetween · v2

2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not───→here2.15───→2.22Worn-out garments

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

1.30Skin burns, mind reels───→here2.15───→2.20The unborn dehī

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here2.15───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here2.15───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.───→here2.15───→3.1Chapter-1 verse opens with word-fit, then bīja.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here2.15───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here2.15───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here2.15───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here2.15───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here2.15───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here2.15───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here2.15───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here2.15───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictexit · other

2.8No grief-remover I see───→here2.15───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.───→here2.15───→3.1Four-verse prelude frames renunciation.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.───→here2.15───→2.16Real and unreal sort into pure and impure.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.───→here2.15───→3.30The Nibandha is cited again on threefold drop.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

2.11Anchor: two confusions — one universal, one yours alone.───→here2.15───→11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here2.15───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlyapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11Each soul takes the path Krishna assigns to it.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here2.15───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractapproach

───→here2.15───→4.7When dharma weakens, the Lord descends to play.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here2.15───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here2.15───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here2.15───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here2.15───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

2.12From here to 18.66: one Krishna-utterance.───→here2.15───→5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.───→here2.15───→2.39Sāṅkhya-yoga split: not two methods, two angles.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

2.11First grief — chapter-1 cowardice — closed.───→here2.15───→5.16Knowledge-darkness cleared — not yet refuge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here2.15───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

2.11Confusing self with body is the source of grief.───→here2.15───→13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awayapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11However they come, I meet them so.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here2.15───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here2.15───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned aloneapproach

───→here2.15───→4.34Knowers will pass it to you by teaching.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here2.15───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionapproach

───→here2.15───→4.14Recognize, do not learn — the verb shifts.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureapproach

───→here2.15───→4.1Teaching descends; the teacher does not move.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here2.15───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here2.15───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.12Teaching proper begins.───→here2.15───→2.30Knowledge seam ends.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here2.15───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerapproach

───→here2.15───→4.6Self-power, not self-illusion.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyaapproach

───→here2.15───→4.11As they approach Me, so do I receive them.

Śabda · lemmas (15 unique · 16 occurrences)

कल्पते √kṛp — to lament, pity (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb

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पुरुषम्·पुरुष puruṣa ×2 — person, man; the cosmic Person; the Self (Sāṅkhya/Vedānta) · accusative masculine singular noun / compound · also at 1.1, 2.16, 2.21, 2.60, 7.11, 8.1 +22
यम् yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · accusative masculine singular noun
हि hi — for, indeed, because (particle)
न na — not (negation particle)
व्यथयन्ति √vyathay — to cause to tremble (caus. of √vyath) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
एते etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative masculine plural noun
ऋषभ ṛṣabha — bull (often as 'best of'); ṛṣabha · vocative masculine singular noun
सम sama — equal, same, even-minded · compound
दुःख duḥkha — suffering, sorrow, pain · compound
सुखम् sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · accusative masculine singular noun
धीरम् dhīra — steady, wise, resolute (from dhī 'thought') · accusative masculine singular noun
सः tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun
अमृत amṛta — immortal, the deathless, nectar (a- + mṛta past-pple. 'died', from √mṛ) · compound
त्वाय tva — you-ness; abstract suffix making 'X-ness' from X · dative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja both conclude the verse points toward amṛtatva, yet Śaṅkara routes it through nityātmadarśana (vision of the eternal Self) while Rāmānuja routes it through niṣkāma-karma (action without desire for fruit): can these be genuinely the same path, or does calling them both 'preparation for liberation' conceal a deep disagreement about what liberation means?
02The verse says the dhīra is not disturbed by heat and cold — but is this insensitivity, or is it a different relationship to sensation altogether? What does sama-duḥkha-sukhatva (equanimity in pain and pleasure) preserve that pure insensibility would destroy?

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03Madhva grounds equanimity in the jīva's ontological separateness from the body: if that separateness is the reason disturbances cannot truly reach the puruṣa, why does the verse require practice or dhairya (steadfastness) at all — should not the truth of non-identity be immediately obvious?
04Vallabha reduces the verse to a single word, sahana (endurance), and names it the cause of amṛtatva directly. Is endurance here a passive reception of Kṛṣṇa's will, or is it an active cultivation — and does Vallabha's compression actually resolve or merely defer that question?
05Śrīdhara argues that attempting to eliminate the contacts of pleasure and pain is less fruitful than enduring them. What is the practical difference between avoidance of the dvandva (pairs of opposites) and genuine equanimity — and how would one know, from the inside, which one is operating?
06Madhusūdana's commentary is the longest of the panel, covering the relationship between bhoktṛtva (the status of enjoyer), antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument), and ātman. Does the philosophical labour he invests here strengthen the devotional conclusion he reaches, or does it displace the verse's directness with a different kind of consolation?
07All six schools agree that amṛtatva (immortality) is the fruit, yet they define it differently — jñāna-mukti, kainkarya-liberation, Hari-realization, Kṛṣṇa-prasāda, dharma-jñāna-mokṣa, brahman-ātman-aikya. Does the verse itself adjudicate between these, or is its boundedness precisely what allows each school to find its own deepest claim confirmed here?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a difficult email arrives — a negative evaluation, a sharp disagreement — the Advaita application is to notice the moment before the reaction: the brief gap in which the antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) has not yet generated the story of injury. Resting in that gap, even for a breath, is a rehearsal of nityātmadarśana (vision of the eternal Self). The instruction is not to suppress the discomfort but to locate the witness of it — the part of you that is reading the discomfort rather than being it.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

A project at work becomes unexpectedly costly — more labour, less reward. The Viśiṣṭādvaita application is to continue the work with the same quality of attention, treating the adverse circumstance as part of the varṇocita-karma (appropriate duty), not as evidence that the effort was misallocated. The discomfort of the changed situation is the śastrapāta (weapon-blow) of Rāmānuja's commentary in everyday dress; bearing it without renegotiating your commitment is the kainkarya (service) the situation calls for.

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Dvaita

In a heated argument where you are blamed unjustly, Madhva's application is to recall that the agitation belongs to the body-mind complex, not to the jīva (individual soul) that you fundamentally are. This is not dismissal of the grievance — Madhva insists on real ontological distinctions — but a refusal to allow the bhoga (experience) to define the bhokta (experiencer). Watching your own anger without identifying as it is the Dvaita equanimity: the jīva is puriśaya (dwelling in the city of the body), not the city itself.

Śuddhādvaita

A period of physical illness or exhaustion that cannot be quickly resolved: Vallabha's application is to receive the suffering as a specific texture of Kṛṣṇa's līlā (divine play), not as an interruption of life but as life itself in this moment. Sahana (endurance) here is not gritted-teeth resignation but an open-palmed receptivity — if this is what Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace) looks like today, then today's practice is to remain the vessel without plugging the opening. The smallness of the effort required (Vallabha's commentary is three lines) matches the simplicity of the instruction.

Bhakti

In relationships — parenting, partnership, friendship — there will be stretches of sustained difficulty that yield no resolution if attacked directly. Śrīdhara's application is to stop attempting to eliminate the source of friction and instead build the capacity to remain present within it. The mahāphala (great fruit) he names is not that the friction disappears but that the person who bears it without being overthrown by it becomes dharma-jñāna-saṃpanna (endowed with right conduct and insight) in a way that no smooth passage could produce.

Advaita-Bhakti

When a contemplative practice — meditation, prayer, chanting — feels dry, mechanical, or even suffocating rather than liberating, Madhusūdana's application is to distinguish between the antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument) that is reporting dryness and the svaprakāśa (self-luminous) witness that is registering the report. The practice is not failing; the antaḥkaraṇa is in a particular configuration. Remaining as the dhī-sākṣin (witness of the intellect) during the dry stretch — neither forcing a feeling nor abandoning the form — is the same move as the verse's sama-duḥkha-sukhatva (equanimity in pain and pleasure), applied to the interior life of sādhana (spiritual practice) itself.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

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weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 2, Verse 15: Krishna to Arjuna — Sāṅkhya-Yoga