True gain is unshakeable inner peace.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः |यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ||६-२२||
yaṃ labdhvā cāparaṃ lābhaṃ manyate nādhikaṃ tataḥ . yasminsthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate ||6-22||
Use this verse during sorrow or major loss.
Meaning
Having attained this, one considers no other gain greater; established in it, one is not shaken even by great sorrow.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Inner realization gives unshakeable strength.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna describes a peace so deep that even heavy sorrow cannot destroy it. This is not numbness, but spiritual rootedness.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna names two unmistakable marks of one who has reached the supreme bliss. First, having gained it, he considers no other gain greater — the endless human pursuit of 'more' simply stops. He who has tasted the infinite no longer chases the finite, for nothing the world offers could surpass what he has found within. The restless acquisitiveness that drives most lives falls silent.
Second, and even more striking: established in this state, he is not shaken even by guru duhkha — the heaviest sorrow, the most crushing grief. This is not because he has grown cold, but because his footing now rests in something deeper than circumstance. Storms that would devastate an ordinary heart pass over him without dislodging his peace.
Together these two signs — the end of craving and the end of being shattered by grief — reveal a person who has finally found solid ground beneath the shifting sands of fortune.
In daily life
Build a center deeper than success and loss.
A person rooted in practice can grieve without losing the will to live wisely.
Try this today
Reflect on one inner quality greater than outer gain.
My deepest gain is inner steadiness.Reflect
What gain am I treating as ultimate?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘मन्यते न अधिकम् ततः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on steadiness, in other chapters
- Verse 12.19Treat praise and blame alike, rest content and unattached, steady in mind and full of devotion.
- Verse 2.14Pleasures and pains are temporary visitors — developing the capacity to bear difficulty without being overwhelmed is one of life's essential skills.
- Verse 14.23Stand as the witness who knows 'it is only the qualities at play' — then nothing in the mind's movement can shake you.
- Verse 4.22Stay content with what comes, free of comparison, and even-minded in success or failure — then no action can bind you.
Swipe left for 6.23 · Practice steadily without discouragement.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 6.22
Who says Bhagavad Gita 6.22, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 6.22, in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga (Dhyana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.22 mean?
Having attained this, one considers no other gain greater; established in it, one is not shaken even by great sorrow. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 6.22 for daily life?
Build a center deeper than success and loss. A person rooted in practice can grieve without losing the will to live wisely.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 6.22 mean?
यम् लब्ध्वा — having gained which; च अपरम् लाभम् — any other gain; मन्यते न अधिकम् ततः — he thinks none greater than that; यस्मिन् स्थितः — established wherein; न दुःखेन गुरुणा अपि — not even by heavy sorrow.
Where does verse 6.22 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 22 of 47 in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. The next verse is 6.23.