Gita 5.19
Karma Sanyasa Yoga
इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः | निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः ||५.१९||
ihaiva tair jitaḥ sargo yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ | nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ ||5.19||
In essence: Conquer death before dying—when your mind rests equally in all circumstances, you have already transcended the wheel of birth.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Krishna says I can conquer birth and death in this very life. But I see myself aging, I will surely die. How is this conquest possible while still in a body?"
Guru: "Tell me—who is it that ages? Who will die?"
Sadhak: "This body, of course. And the person I take myself to be—with my name, history, relationships."
Guru: "Exactly. The body ages, the person-story will end. But are you the body? Are you the story?"
Sadhak: "I understand intellectually that I'm not just the body. But I feel so identified with it. When my knee hurts, 'I' hurt."
Guru: "Notice something: you said 'MY knee.' Who is this 'my'? You speak of the body as a possession. Can the possessor be the possession?"
Sadhak: "So the conquest is about shifting identification? From the body-mind to... awareness itself?"
Guru: "Closer. But even 'shifting identification' implies effort, implies someone doing the shifting. The verse says the mind must be 'established in equality.' What does equality mean to you?"
Sadhak: "Treating everything the same? Good and bad, pleasure and pain?"
Guru: "Not treating—SEEING. When you truly see that pleasure and pain are both waves in the same ocean of consciousness, both equally appearances in the unchanging awareness that you are, what happens to the one who was supposed to die?"
Sadhak: "If I'm the ocean, not the waves... then waves arising and passing aren't 'my' birth and death. They're just... movement in what I am."
Guru: "Now you begin to taste the conquest. 'Ihaiva'—right here, right now. Not after death, not in some heaven. Brahman is flawless and equal because it has no preferences, no 'this should be, that shouldn't be.' When your mind reflects that equality, you recognize you've always been Brahman. Birth conquered—not by fighting death, but by recognizing you were never born."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Begin your day with a 'sameness meditation': Sit quietly and bring to mind something you're anticipating with pleasure today and something you're dreading. Hold both in awareness simultaneously. Notice: awareness receives both equally. It doesn't strain toward the pleasant or shrink from the unpleasant. Rest as that equanimous awareness. Set an intention: 'Today, whatever arises, I will recognize it as a wave in the ocean that I am—neither adding excitement to pleasure nor resistance to pain.'
Practice 'equality moments' throughout your day. When something pleasant happens (a compliment, good food, a task completed), notice: 'This is arising in awareness.' When something unpleasant happens (criticism, delay, discomfort), notice identically: 'This is arising in awareness.' Begin to recognize that the NOTICING is the same in both cases—only the content differs. Let this recognition grow: the one who notices pleasure is not different from the one who notices pain. This stable noticing IS the sāmya (equality) Krishna speaks of.
Before sleep, review your day through the lens of equality. Notice moments when you were pulled into inequality—excitement about something 'good,' resistance to something 'bad.' Don't judge these moments; simply see them. Then notice moments of natural equanimity—perhaps times you were so absorbed in work or flow that preference disappeared. Ask yourself: 'In those equal moments, was I less alive? Less effective? Less loving?' Usually, you'll find equanimity enhanced everything. Let this recognition deepen your commitment to the equal mind. Sleep in the recognition that sleeping, dreaming, and waking all arise equally in the awareness you are.