Gita 5.20
Karma Sanyasa Yoga
न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् | स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ||५.२०||
na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam | sthirabuddhir asammūḍho brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ ||5.20||
In essence: The enlightened one is not tossed by life's waves—neither elated by gain nor devastated by loss—because they know themselves as the ocean.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Krishna says not to rejoice at the pleasant or grieve at the unpleasant. But isn't this asking me to become an emotionless robot?"
Guru: "Read again more carefully. He says not to 'prahṛṣyet'—not to be elated, inflated, carried away. He doesn't say not to feel."
Sadhak: "What's the difference between feeling pleasure and being elated?"
Guru: "You taste delicious food. Pleasure arises. Now notice two possibilities: One, you simply enjoy. Two, you think 'This is amazing, I must have this again, why can't life always be like this, I'm so lucky...' Which is pleasure? Which is elation?"
Sadhak: "The first is just the experience. The second is... a story added on top?"
Guru: "Precisely. Elation is pleasure plus self-reference plus mental elaboration plus attachment. The brahmavit enjoys the pleasure purely, without the additives. Same with pain—there's the raw sensation, and then there's 'Why me? This is terrible, how will I cope, life is unfair...'"
Sadhak: "But sometimes joy or grief seem appropriate. Should I not rejoice at my child's success or grieve a loved one's death?"
Guru: "Love your child, celebrate their growth, fully feel the loss of those you love. These are not the 'priya and apriya' Krishna means. He speaks of the pleasant and unpleasant that the ego clutches for its identity. Loving your child is natural. Needing their success to feel you're a good parent—that's prahṛṣya, elation entangled with self."
Sadhak: "So the difference is whether my sense of self rides on the outcome?"
Guru: "Exactly. The steady intellect knows: I am not validated by success or invalidated by failure. I am not made by the pleasant or unmade by the unpleasant. When this is truly known—not believed, but KNOWN—reactions become responses. The same events may trigger the same initial feelings, but you don't elaborate, don't cling, don't build stories."
Sadhak: "How do I become sthirabuddhi? My mind constantly wavers."
Guru: "The steadiness comes not from controlling the mind but from finding what is already steady. In this moment, thoughts are moving. Feelings are rising and falling. But are YOU moving? Is the awareness in which all this appears... wavering? Find that which is already sthira—already steady. That is your true mind, your buddhi's source."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Start your day with the 'Anticipation Investigation.' Notice what your mind is anticipating—both desired and dreaded. Write down: 'Today I'm hoping for...' and 'Today I'm worried about...' For each item, ask: 'If this pleasant thing happens, who will be elated? If this unpleasant thing happens, who will be agitated?' See that both elation and agitation require believing you're a small self whose wellbeing depends on outcomes. Set an intention: 'Today I meet outcomes as experiences, not as verdicts on my worth.'
Practice 'Response Gap Awareness.' When something pleasant occurs—praise, success, good news—notice the impulse to expand, to ride the wave, to claim the moment. Pause. Let there be a gap between the event and your elaboration. In that gap, notice: 'Pleasure arising. Thoughts wanting to spin.' Same with the unpleasant: notice the impulse to contract, reject, storytell. Pause. 'Discomfort arising. Thoughts wanting to spin.' This gap is sthirabuddhi in practice—the steady intellect that doesn't immediately believe every reactive thought.
Reflect on your day's 'priya and apriya'—what pleasant and unpleasant came your way. For each, honestly assess: Did I get captured by elation? Did I sink into distress? Don't judge yourself—just see clearly. Then notice: the awareness that's reviewing all of this, the seeing itself—was IT affected by any of the day's events? This seeing has been steady all along. It's your sthirabuddhi, always present, waiting to be recognized as home. Rest in that recognition as you fall asleep.