Sanskrit
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः । युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ॥
jñānavijñānatṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ yukta ity ucyate yogī samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ
Translation
The Yogi who is satisfied with wisdom and knowledge, unwavering, whose senses are subdued, to whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonised.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The famous “equal to a clod, a stone, and gold” image is the sharpest test case for the equanimity described in verse 7 — not just pain and pleasure but valuation itself, the impulse to rank things as more or less desirable, is what’s being leveled. Wisdom (jnana) and its direct realization (vijnana) are named as what satisfies such a person, distinguishing intellectual knowledge from lived insight. Jñāna-vijñāna-tṛpta — full on both learned and realised knowing — is why nothing external needs ranking: the person is already satisfied. Sama-darśana is here applied to worth itself.
Study deeper
Word by word
- jñānavijñānatṛptātmāज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा
- the self satisfied by knowledge and realization (jñāna-vijñāna-tṛpta-ātmā)
- kūṭasthoकूटस्थो
- unshaken, standing on a peak (kūṭa-sthaḥ)
- vijitendriyaḥविजितेन्द्रियः
- senses mastered (vijita-indriyaḥ)
- yukta ity ucyate yogīयुक्त इत्य् उच्यते योगी
- is called a yogi, yoked (yuktaḥ + iti + ucyate + yogī)
- samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥसमलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः
- equal toward a clod, a stone, and gold (sama-loṣṭa-aśma-kāñcanaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Clod, stone, and gold aren’t a random trio — they’re arranged worthless to precious specifically so the verse can level valuation itself, not just tolerance for hardship. And Krishna is careful to name two kinds of knowing, jnana and vijnana: it isn’t enough to intellectually know gold shouldn’t matter more, the realization has to be lived, or the sameness is just a slogan.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Notice when you say you don't care about status or possessions but your reactions still rank them — that gap between what you know intellectually and what you've actually internalized is exactly the gap this verse is naming. Close it through practice, not by repeating the belief.
Professional
- Claiming you're "not motivated by title or compensation" means little if your actual reactions still track them closely — the test isn't what you say you value, it's whether a promotion and a lateral move genuinely register the same to you.
Family & Social
- If you tell your kids that effort matters more than winning but your face lights up differently for a trophy than for honest effort, that gap is the whole lesson — the belief has to reach your actual reactions, not just your words.
Ask yourself
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