Sanskrit
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु । नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ॥
asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu nityaṃ ca samacittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu
Translation
Unattachment, absence of self-identification with son, wife or home, and constant balance of mind in wished-for and unwished-for events,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Non-attachment extends specifically to family — son, wife, home — and the list adds equanimity toward whatever happens, wanted or not. This is the same samatva (evenness of mind) that chapter 2 built its sthitaprajna portrait around and that chapter 6 uses to define the “highest yogi” (6.32) — a recurring psychological signature the Gita treats as evidence of realized wisdom wherever it appears, not something unique to this chapter’s vocabulary. Non-attachment extends specifically to family, and the list adds sama-cittatva — the same evenness that chapter 2 built its sthitaprajña portrait around and chapter 6 used for the “highest yogi” (BG 6.32). A recurring psychological signature of realised wisdom.
Study deeper
Word by word
- asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥअसक्तिः अनभिष्वङ्गः
- non-attachment, non-clinging (asaktiḥ + anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ)
- putradāragṛhādiṣuपुत्रदारगृहादिषु
- to son, wife, home, and the rest (putra-dāra-gṛha-ādiṣu)
- nityaṃ ca samacittatvamनित्यं च समचित्तत्वं
- and constant evenness of mind (nityam + ca + sama-cittatvam)
- iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣuइष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु
- amid occurrences wanted and unwanted (iṣṭa-aniṣṭa-upapattiṣu)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The target named here isn’t son, wife, or home themselves — it’s anabhishvanga, over-identification or enmeshment with them, the habit of folding your own sense of self into what happens to people and things you love. That’s a narrower and harder target than simple detachment: the verse isn’t asking Arjuna to care less about his family, only to stop making their fortunes the container his own identity lives inside.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Care fully for the people and things closest to you without folding your own sense of self into how their lives turn out — the target here isn't caring less, it's refusing to let someone else's fortune become the container your own identity lives inside.
Professional
- Invest fully in your team's success without letting your own sense of competence live or die by any single outcome — a launch stumbling, a project getting cancelled — because over-identification with results, not caring about them, is what erodes your judgment under pressure.
Family & Social
- Love the people in your family fully without needing their choices or successes to validate who you are — the equanimity this verse asks for isn't loving less, it's no longer needing their outcomes to complete you.
Ask yourself
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