Steadiness in opposites is mature bhakti.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः |शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ||१२-१८||
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ . śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅgavivarjitaḥ ||12-18||
Use this verse when praise or criticism shakes you.
Meaning
One who is equal toward enemy and friend, honor and dishonor, cold and heat, pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
A dear devotee is steady in opposites.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse teaches mature equanimity. The devotee does not let relationship labels, social approval, comfort, or discomfort control the inner state.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna extends equanimity into the relationships and conditions that test us most. The dear devotee is the same toward an enemy and a friend (samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca), and the same in honour and dishonour (māna-apamānayoḥ) — neither flattered by praise nor crushed by insult. He is steady through cold and heat, pleasure and pain (śīta-uṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu), the natural dualities of embodied life.
The ground of this evenness is the closing phrase: saṅga-vivarjitaḥ, free from attachment. Because he clings to nothing as his own, the swinging pairs of opposites lose their power to disturb him. This is not indifference but a balanced openness, born of resting the heart in God rather than in the shifting conditions of the world.
In daily life
Practice balance in praise, insult, comfort, and discomfort.
A leader receiving public criticism can respond from dharma rather than ego pain.
Try this today
Choose one opposite and practice equal response today.
I remain steady in honor and dishonor.Reflect
Which opposite disturbs me most: praise, insult, comfort, or discomfort?
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Quick check
What does ‘māna-apamānayoḥ’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on non attachment, in other chapters
- Verse 2.38Train yourself to act with full commitment while holding all outcomes — success and failure, gain and loss — with equal steadiness; that equanimity is the key to action without karmic bondage.
- Verse 5.20Meet both pleasant and unpleasant with steady composure — true stability comes from resting in what never changes.
- Verse 6.9Spiritual maturity shows in seeing the same essence in friend and foe, saint and sinner alike, without partiality.
- Verse 13.10Love your people and possessions with open hands, keeping an even mind through both fortune and loss.
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Questions about Bhagavad Gita 12.18
Who says Bhagavad Gita 12.18, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 12.18, in Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga (Bhakti Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 12.18 mean?
One who is equal toward enemy and friend, honor and dishonor, cold and heat, pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 12.18 for daily life?
Practice balance in praise, insult, comfort, and discomfort. A leader receiving public criticism can respond from dharma rather than ego pain.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 12.18 mean?
samaḥ — equal, the same; śatrau — toward an enemy; ca — and; mitre — toward a friend; tathā — likewise.
Where does verse 12.18 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 18 of 20 in Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga. The next verse is 12.19.