Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 25
मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते।।
mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate
also searched as "manapamanayos tulyas tulyo mitrari-pakshayoh"
Translation
He who is the same in honor and dishonor, and the same to friend and foe, and who has abandoned all enterprises—he is said to have risen above the Gunas.
Vāṇi's rendering
Equal in honour and disgrace, to friend and foe alike; renouncing every undertaking — that one has crossed.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मान-अपमानयोःmāna-apamānayoḥ | in honour and in dishonour (appears as mānāpamānayos before the next word) |
| तुल्यःtulyaḥ | the same, weighing both alike (written tulyas by sandhi) |
| तुल्यःtulyaḥ | the same again — the word is repeated for the second pair |
| मित्र-अरि-पक्षयोःmitra-ari-pakṣayoḥ | toward the side of the friend and the side of the enemy |
| सर्व-आरम्भ-परित्यागीsarva-ārambha-parityāgī | one who has let go of every undertaking, every private venture begun for oneself |
| गुण-अतीतःguṇa-atītaḥ | gone past the three guṇas |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one |
| उच्यतेucyate | is said to be, is called |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 25 mean?
It finishes Krishna's portrait of the one who has crossed the three guṇas. Praise and insult land the same way; friend and foe are met with the same face. And every self-begun undertaking has been set down. Such a person, Krishna says, is called guṇātīta — gone past what binds.
What does manapamanayos tulyas tulyo mitrari-pakshayoh mean?
Equal in honour and disgrace, equal toward the side of friend and the side of foe. Tulya is repeated deliberately — the same steadiness twice, once for what people say of you, once for how you meet them. Not indifference. An evenness that does not tilt when the room tilts.
Does renouncing all undertakings mean I should stop working?
No. Krishna forbids that outright elsewhere, and would not reverse himself here. Sarvārambha is the venture you launch for yourself — the plan whose whole fuel is what it will bring you. Let that go, and the work remains. Only the one who needed it to succeed has stepped aside.
How can anyone treat friend and enemy the same?
Not by feeling nothing. By no longer needing either of them to confirm who you are. When approval stops feeding you and hostility stops wounding you, both simply become people standing in front of you. Try it once this week with someone whose opinion of you you have been carrying.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Honour and disgrace are the same weather. Krishna has been describing the one beyond the guṇas, and here the description turns outward, to people. The one who praises you and the one who wants you gone are met identically. Not coldly. Equally. Then the hardest line: sarvārambha-parityāgī, renouncing every undertaking. This is not the end of action — Krishna has spent five chapters shutting that door. It is the end of the private project, the scheme running underneath your duties, the one that needs the praise to keep going. Notice what you begin tomorrow, and for whom.