Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 22
यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः।
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते।।
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते।।
yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate
also searched as "yam labdhva chaparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah"
Translation
Having gained it, one holds that there is no greater gain; being established in it, one is not moved even by the heaviest sorrow.
Vāṇi's rendering
Gain that, and nothing greater remains to gain. Stand there, and even the heaviest sorrow cannot move you.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यम्yaṁ | which — that state |
| लब्ध्वाlabdhvā | having gained, having come into |
| चca | and (joined in sandhi as cāparaṁ) |
| अपरम्aparaṁ | another, any further |
| लाभम्lābhaṁ | gain, acquisition |
| मन्यतेmanyate | he considers, he reckons |
| नna | not (joined in sandhi as nādhikaṁ) |
| अधिकम्adhikaṁ | greater, more |
| ततःtataḥ | than that |
| यस्मिन्yasmin | in which, standing where |
| स्थितःsthito | established, firmly placed |
| नna | not |
| दुःखेनduḥkhena | by sorrow |
| गुरुणाguruṇā | heavy, weighty (joined in sandhi as guruṇāpi) |
| अपिapi | even |
| विचाल्यतेvicālyate | is shaken, is moved from place |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 22 mean?
It gives two marks of the settled state. First, nothing further registers as gain — the wanting has no next item. Second, even sorrow of great weight arrives without dislodging you. Krishna is not describing numbness. He is describing a footing that holds while the storm passes over it.
What is the meaning of yam labdhva chaparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah?
Having gained that, one reckons no gain greater. Every other acquisition leaves a residue of wanting; this one closes the account. Krishna offers it as a way to check yourself — if you are still scanning for the next thing, you have not yet stood where he is pointing.
Does this verse say a steady person feels no grief?
No. The Sanskrit says na vicālyate — not moved, not shifted. Sorrow still comes, and it is called guruṇā, heavy. Krishna concedes its weight. What he denies is its power to move the one who is established. Feeling and footing are different things.
How does this help me when sorrow is already here?
It changes what you ask for. You stop asking that the sorrow leave, and start asking where you are standing while it stays. That ground is built in the sitting Krishna has just described — quiet, daily, unspectacular. Grief will test it. Let it test something that was built.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is describing a place, not a mood. Arjuna wants relief from grief; what he is offered is ground. The test given here is oddly practical — you know you have arrived when nothing else looks like gain, and when heavy sorrow arrives and finds you still standing. Not untouched. Unmoved. Grief will still come to the door; the door will simply not come off its hinges. Most of what you call peace is a lull between losses, and it moves when the next one lands. This does not move. Stand somewhere sorrow can reach you and still not shift you.