SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SlOkam – Original
mAnAvamAnayOs thulyas thulyO mithrAripakshayO: |
sarvArambhaparithyAgI guNAthItha: sa uchyathE ||
word-by-word meaning
mAna avamAnayO: thulya: – treating equally when others honour and insult
mithra ari pakshayO: thulya: – treating equally friends and foes
sarva Aramba parithyAgI – giving up all activities which lead to bodily bondage
sa: – he
guNAthItha: – beyond the (three) qualities
uchyathE – is said to be
Simple Translation
… one who treats equally when others honour and insult, treats equally friends and foes and has given up all activities which lead to bodily bondage, is said to be beyond the (three) qualities.
Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam
‘Equal-minded for honour or ignominy; the same towards friends and foes; retired from all effort; —such an one is called the surmounter of the qualities.’
Sama=Equal=Keeping the mind (or heart) balanced in both grief and joy.
Svasthaḥ=Self-centred=he who is established in himself, i.e., from his love centred in ātma, his mind is not distracted with regard to external things, such as the events of rejoicing, the birth of a son etc., and events of grief, such as his death etc.,
Hence a lump of earth, or stone or gold appear of equal (worth) in his eyes. And hence there is to him nothing which he particularly loves or particularly hates.
Dhiraḥ=Wise=he who is edified as to the distinction between matter and ātma. Hence he preserves equanimity whether blame or praise come to him; for love of praise is a consequence of egotism which inheres in the body, but which is mistakingly referred to ātma, making one to think that it is a great honor to get praise. Similarly his aversion to blame, is a consequence of the same egotism making him to think that it is an ignominy to get blame; but neither of these illusions exists in the case of him who is ātma-wise, —a wisdom which perceives that no adventitious limitations such as being a man etc., attach to ātma. For the same reason that egotism is foreign to ātma, what pertains to egotism, such as honor and disgrace, friends and enemies, does not affect ātma. He who has such (spiritual) light is unconcerned about such matters. Similarly, since all effort or activity is the outcome of the embodied state of existence, the ātma-wise abandon all such effort.
Such a person is said to be the surmounter of the qualities.
The chief Means by which to surmount the aforesaid qualities, is now stated:
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