मानापमानयोस् तुल्यस् तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः । सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥
mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ | sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate ||
Equal in honor and disgrace, equal to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings — he has gone beyond guṇas.
Word by word (3)
- mānāpamānayoḥ tulyas tulyas mitra-ari-pakṣayoḥ
- — equal (tulya) in honor (māna) and disgrace/dishonor (apamāna); equal toward the party of friends (mitrā-pakṣa) and enemies (ari-pakṣa)
- sarva-ārambha-parityāgī
- — one who has relinquished all undertakings/initiatives (sarva = all; ārambha = initiating, beginning; parityāgī = one who renounces/abandons)
- guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate
- — he is said/declared (ucyate) to have transcended the guṇas (guṇātīta = beyond guṇas) — the formal closure of the guṇātīta portrait
Equal in honor and disgrace; equal toward friends and enemies; having relinquished all undertakings (sarva-ārambha-parityāgī) — he is declared to have gone beyond the guṇas.
A modern analogy
The guṇātīta is like water: it takes the shape of any container (adapts to circumstances) but isn't changed by the container. Honor and disgrace are both containers the world offers — the guṇātīta flows through both without becoming either. Friend and foe are met with equal presence — not equal behavior, but equal inner ground.
V25 closes the guṇātīta portrait (V22-V25) with two final pairs: māna-apamāna (honor-disgrace) and mitra-ari (friend-foe) — both deeply ego-touching. The final qualifier is sarva-ārambha-parityāgī: relinquishing all undertakings. This doesn't mean total inaction but the absence of ego-driven initiative (ārambha). The formal closure guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate answers Arjuna's first question ('by what marks?') definitively.
sarva-ārambha-parityāgī appears also in Ch.12 V16 as a mark of the devotee dear to Krishna and in Ch.18 V2 in the discussion of sannyāsa. It means abandoning the ego's compulsion to constantly initiate new projects from desire or fear. The guṇātīta acts when appropriate (karma still occurs through the guṇas per V23's 'guṇāḥ vartante iti') but without the ahaṃkāra-driven ārambha impulse that generates new binding karma.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
[Truncated in index] The same in honour and disgrace, the same towards friends and enemies, abandoning all (undertakings — he is said to have gone beyond the guṇas). [1]
The same in honour and disgrace, the same to friend and foe, relinquishing all undertakings — he is said to have gone beyond the Gunas. [4]
He who is the same in honour and dishonour, the same towards friends and enemies, who abandons all undertakings — he is said to have crossed over the qualities. [9]
He who is the same in honour and dishonour, who is the same towards friends and foes, who has renounced all initiative — he is said to have crossed beyond the qualities. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
Surrendering all actions to Brahman, abandoning attachment — like a lotus leaf, sin never clings.
Offer all actions to Me alone, worship through undivided yoga — the mat-parāḥ hold Me as their supreme goal.
Unable even to act for My sake? Then take refuge in Me, abandon all fruits of action — with self-restraint.