Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 10, Verse 4
बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसंमोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः।
सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च।।
सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयमेव च।।
buddhir jñānam asammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo ’bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayameva ca
also searched as "buddhir jnanam asammohah kshama satyam damah shamah"
Translation
Intelligence, knowledge, non-delusion, forbearance, truth, restraint, self-control, pleasure, pain, exaltation, and depression, fear, and fearlessness;
Vāṇi's rendering
Understanding and knowledge, clarity, patience, truth, restraint, calm; pleasure and pain, birth and death, fear and courage —
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | understanding, the power to discern (buddhir before the next word) |
| ज्ञानम्jñānam | knowledge |
| असंमोहःasammohaḥ | freedom from confusion; clarity |
| क्षमाkṣamā | patience, the capacity to bear and forgive |
| सत्यम्satyam | truth, truthfulness |
| दमःdamaḥ | restraint of the senses |
| शमःśamaḥ | calm of mind |
| सुखम्sukham | pleasure, ease |
| दुःखम्duḥkham | pain, sorrow |
| भवःbhavaḥ | coming into being, birth (bhavo by sandhi) |
| अभावःabhāvaḥ | ceasing to be, death ('bhāvo, the initial a absorbed by sandhi) |
| भयम्bhayam | fear |
| चca | and (joined as cābhayam) |
| अभयम्abhayam | fearlessness, courage |
| एवeva | indeed |
| चca | and |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Verse 4 mean?
Krishna names the inner conditions of every being — understanding, clarity, patience, truth, restraint, calm, and also pleasure, pain, birth, death, fear and courage — and says they arise from him alone. The list is deliberately unsorted. What you would keep and what you would disown share one source.
What does buddhir jnanam asammohah kshama satyam damah shamah mean?
Buddhi is the discerning power, jñāna the knowing, asammoha the absence of muddle. Then kṣamā, patience that bears; satya, speech aligned with what is; dama, the senses held; śama, the mind gone quiet. Six qualities and one clarity — all of them, Krishna says, given, not manufactured by you.
Why does Krishna say fear comes from him too?
Because a source that issues only the pleasant qualities would be a small source. Bhava and abhāva, bhaya and abhaya — arising and ending, fear and fearlessness — are named in the same breath. Krishna is not endorsing your fear. He is refusing to let you treat it as proof that you are outside him.
How do I use this verse when I feel afraid?
Stop trying to establish where the fear came from and whether it disqualifies you. It came from the same place your courage does. Let it stand in the list beside everything else, unranked. What remains for you is the next act — the fear can accompany it without ruling it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Read the list slowly and notice what is not sorted. Understanding sits beside pain. Fear sits beside courage, and both are said to come from Krishna — no line drawn between the ones you would keep and the ones you would hand back. Arjuna is shaking with fear as he listens; Krishna does not tell him the fear came from somewhere else. It came from where his clarity came from. This is hard, and it is freeing. The state you are ashamed of this morning was issued from the same hand as the steadiness you had yesterday. Neither one is a verdict on you.