Chapter 10, Verse 4
बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः | सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ||१०-४||
buddhirjñānamasammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ damaḥ śamaḥ . sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ bhavo.abhāvo bhayaṃ cābhayameva ca ||10-4||
Meaning
10.4 Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, existence or birth, non-existence or death, fear and also fearlessness.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna begins to enumerate the inner qualities of all beings — and declares (in the next verse) that they too arise from Him alone. Note how comprehensive the list is: it includes not only the noble virtues such as buddhi (discernment), jñāna (wisdom), kṣamā (forgiveness), satya (truth), and śama (mental calm), but also the dualities we usually resist — happiness and pain, existence and non-existence, fear and fearlessness.
The teaching is profound: every texture of human experience, light and shadow alike, has its ultimate origin in the Divine. Nothing in the moral and emotional landscape of life falls outside His ordering. This prepares the seeker to see all of life — its gifts and its trials — as woven from a single sacred thread.
💡 Key Takeaway
Every quality and experience of life, joyful or painful, flows from one Divine source.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | भूय एव महाबाहो शृणु मे परमं वचः | यत्तेऽहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया ||१०-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṃ vacaḥ . yatte.ahaṃ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hitakāmyayā ||10-1||
10.1 The Blessed Lord said Again, O mighty-armed Arjuna, listen to my supreme word which I will declare to thee who who art beloved, for thy welfare.
न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः | अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः ||१०-२||
na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ prabhavaṃ na maharṣayaḥ . ahamādirhi devānāṃ maharṣīṇāṃ ca sarvaśaḥ ||10-2||
10.2 Neither the hosts of the gods nor the great sages know My origin; for in every way I am the source of all the gods and the great sages.
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्तपो दानं यशोऽयशः | भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्विधाः ||१०-५||
ahiṃsā samatā tuṣṭistapo dānaṃ yaśo.ayaśaḥ . bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṃ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ ||10-5||
10.5 Non-injury, eanimity, contentment, austerity, beneficence, fame, ill-fame (these) different kinds of alities of beings arise from Me alone.