Sanskrit
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्तपो दानं यशोऽयशः । भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्विधाः ॥ ५ ॥
ahiṃsā samatā tuṣṭis tapo dānaṃ yaśo'yaśaḥ bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṃ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ
Translation
Harmlessness, equanimity, content, austerity, almsgiving, fame and obloquy are the various characteristics of beings issuing from Me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Continues verse 4’s emanation list, now weighted toward ethical and social qualities. The same move repeats in miniature: yaśo’yaśaḥ, “fame and infamy,” keeps both poles of the pair in the list rather than only the flattering half. Matta eva pṛthag-vidhāḥ — “from Me alone, in their many forms” — names Krishna as the single source of the whole spread of human dispositions. Chapter 16 will re-sort this spread into “divine” and “demonic,” but here it is all one emanation.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ahiṃsā samatā tuṣṭisअहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्
- non-violence, evenness, contentment (ahiṃsā + samatā + tuṣṭiḥ)
- tapo dānaṃ yaśo'yaśaḥतपो दानं यशोऽयशः
- austerity, giving, fame and infamy (tapaḥ + dānam + yaśaḥ + ayaśaḥ)
- bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṃभवन्ति भावा भूतानां
- the states of beings come to be (bhavanti + bhāvāḥ + bhūtānām)
- matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥमत्त एव पृथग्विधाः
- from Me alone, in their many kinds (mattaḥ + eva + pṛthak-vidhāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Yaśo’yaśaḥ — fame and infamy together — is the sharpest instance in this two-verse list, because reputation feels like the one outcome a person most directly controls through their own conduct. Naming it here as something that “issues from” Krishna, rather than purely from individual effort or fault, quietly loosens the grip that visible success or blame has on the story a person thinks they authored alone.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When your reputation rises or falls, resist reading it as a complete verdict on your own effort — this verse names fame and infamy together as things that arise from more than a person's will alone. Hold both outcomes a little more loosely than instinct suggests.
Professional
- When a project earns you praise or blame, separate the outcome's optics from your actual contribution to it — this verse treats fame and infamy as paired outcomes shaped by more than individual effort. Visible reputation is never a full account of the work behind it.
Family & Social
- When a family member's public standing rises or falls, avoid treating it as a full verdict on their character. This verse pairs fame with infamy as two sides of one larger pattern — reputation is shaped by more forces than the person alone controls.
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