SlokaSandra
Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2 · Verse 48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि

Krishna asks Arjuna to act while established in yoga, relinquishing attachment and remaining even in success and failure. The final phrase—samatvaṁ yoga ucyate, “equanimity is called yoga”—is often quoted by itself, but the verse belongs to a tightly connected sequence about action, fruit, judgment and disciplined steadiness. SlokaSandra presents it as scriptural teaching, not as emotional numbness, a corporate productivity slogan, or a demand to tolerate danger or abuse.

Canonical SanskritIASTKrishna → Arjuna / DhanañjayaVerified 26 August 2026
Canonical text
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥२.४८॥
IAST transliteration

yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya |
siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga ucyate || 2.48 ||

Text witness note: The Sanskrit is checked against Sanskrit Wikisource’s Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja Bhagavad Gita commentary witnesses and IIT Kanpur’s Gita Supersite. The IAST is a direct transliteration of that checked Sanskrit, cross-checked against the same verse sequence. SlokaSandra does not replace the canonical Sanskrit with a modern translation or reconstruct missing text from memory.

Phrase by phrase

Equanimity changes how action is held; it does not erase judgment, feeling or responsibility.

The verse is concise enough to become a slogan, which is exactly why its phrases deserve to be read together. Krishna does not tell Arjuna merely to “be calm.” The instruction joins action, non-attachment, success and failure, and a definition of yoga.

yogasthaḥ

Established in yoga

The opening condition matters. Action is to arise from a disciplined orientation rather than from uncontrolled craving for the outcome. The commentators explain the spiritual framework differently, but both named readings below keep the verse inside a liberation-oriented path, not a generic performance technique.

kuru karmāṇi

Perform the actions

The verse does not praise passivity. It tells Arjuna to act. At the same time, “act” does not mean “do whatever anyone demands.” The Gita’s ethical and scriptural context still matters, and modern readers should not use the imperative to authorize unsafe, unlawful, exploitative or abusive conduct.

saṅgaṁ tyaktvā

Having relinquished attachment

Attachment here is not the same as caring whether actions harm or help. Letting go of possessive clinging to fruit does not cancel responsibility for consequences. A person can act carefully, plan competently, learn from results and still refuse to make personal identity depend entirely on winning.

dhanañjaya

O Dhanañjaya

Krishna addresses Arjuna by a traditional epithet. Keeping the address visible helps preserve the dialogical setting: this is counsel within the Gita’s battlefield conversation, not an anonymous aphorism detached from speaker, listener and chapter.

siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samaḥ

Even in success and non-success

Siddhi and asiddhi can be heard here as accomplishment and non-accomplishment within the action under discussion. “Even” does not mean pretending the outcomes are identical in practical consequence. It addresses the inward relation to outcome, especially the swing of possessive elation and collapse around fruit.

samatvaṁ yoga ucyate

This equanimity is called yoga

The verse explicitly names equanimity as yoga in this setting. That is stronger than a casual recommendation to “stay positive,” but narrower than claiming that all forms of yoga are reducible to emotional flatness. The chapter continues immediately into buddhi-yoga and action, so the definition should be read in sequence.

Immediate context

Read 2.48 as the bridge between “you have a claim on action” and the next teaching on buddhi-yoga.

Verse 2.47 has already separated action from possessive entitlement to its fruit and warned Arjuna not to become attached to inaction. Verse 2.48 then explains how action should be carried: established in yoga, relinquishing attachment, and remaining even in success and failure. These are not two independent slogans. The second verse develops the inner posture implied by the first.

Verse 2.49 immediately says action performed from fruit-seeking is far inferior to buddhi-yoga and directs Arjuna to seek refuge in that disciplined understanding. Verse 2.50 then says the one joined to this intelligence relinquishes both good and bad results and presents yoga as kauśalam in action. The 2.47 → 2.48 → 2.49 → 2.50 sequence therefore moves from entitlement and fruit, to equanimity, to buddhi-yoga, to a more developed account of action.

That sequence prevents a common distortion. Equanimity is not an instruction to stop noticing whether an action succeeded. A surgeon, driver, engineer, parent, judge or student still needs feedback. The teaching is about attachment and inner balance, not the destruction of practical discernment. If a bridge fails, “success and failure are equal” is not a license to ignore the failure. Ethical responsibility requires learning from what happened.

Likewise, the verse does not ask a person to erase grief, fear, relief or joy. Classical equanimity is a discipline of relation to experience. Emotional numbness, dissociation and suppression are different psychological phenomena and should not be romanticized as spiritual attainment.

Śaṅkara / Advaita

Act for Īśvara without thirst for fruit; equanimity supports purification and knowledge.

Śaṅkara’s Sanskrit commentary, preserved on Sanskrit Wikisource and IIT Kanpur, explains yogasthaḥ as acting while established in yoga and describes action undertaken for Īśvara without attachment to fruit. He treats success and non-success evenly and explicitly identifies that equality as yoga in the verse.

The commentary places this action inside a larger Advaita soteriological structure. Action without fruit-thirst contributes to purification of the inner instrument, and knowledge is central to liberation. SlokaSandra therefore does not turn Śaṅkara’s reading into “work hard and you will succeed.” The point is precisely not to make worldly success the governing fruit.

Rāmānuja / Viśiṣṭādvaita

Perform the required action while relinquishing attachment to worldly stakes and staying even in success or failure.

Rāmānuja’s commentary also identifies equanimity in success and failure as the yoga named in this verse. His explanation is framed within the immediate duty before Arjuna: relinquish attachment to kingdom, relatives and the other worldly stakes bound up with battle, and perform the required action while remaining even toward victory and non-victory.

This is not identical to Śaṅkara’s metaphysical account. SlokaSandra keeps the two readings separate because overlap in vocabulary does not erase doctrinal difference. Readers can see where both commentators stress non-attachment and equality while still respecting the distinctive theological structures in which they place the verse.

A modern misuse to avoid

“Treat success and failure the same” does not mean tolerate abuse, danger or negligence.

Equanimity can be misused by institutions or individuals to discourage complaint: “If you were truly spiritual, you would not care that this is unfair,” or “Failure should not bother you, so keep working under unsafe conditions.” That is not a responsible reading of the verse. Non-attachment does not remove another person’s right to safety, fair treatment, rest, boundaries, medical care or legal protection.

A person may leave an abusive relationship, unsafe job, coercive religious setting or dangerous environment and still take spiritual teaching seriously. Feeling fear when danger appears can be protective. Feeling grief after loss can be human and appropriate. Seeking mental-health support is not evidence that one has failed at equanimity.

Learn carefully

Recite by four sense units before joining the whole verse

  1. योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणिyogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi
  2. सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जयsaṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya
  3. सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वाsiddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā
  4. समत्वं योग उच्यतेsamatvaṁ yoga ucyate
Audio status: Awaiting verified recitation.

No recitation is published on this page. SlokaSandra does not label generic text-to-speech or unreviewed pronunciation as authoritative Sanskrit recitation. If human-reviewed audio is added later, it remains in-site listening with play, slow and repeat controls; there is no download button or direct downloadable-audio link.

Safety and claims boundary

Equanimity is not emotional suppression or a guarantee of worldly outcomes.

Bhagavad Gita 2.48 is spiritual-philosophical teaching. SlokaSandra does not present it as treatment for anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, insomnia, grief or another medical or mental-health condition. It does not promise that recitation or practice guarantees employment, promotion, examination results, wealth, business success, legal victory, relationship success, protection, health, or a predetermined spiritual experience.

The verse should not be used for victim-blaming. Pain after loss, failure or injustice does not prove that a person lacks yoga. Equanimity can be cultivated without denying reality, suppressing emotion, ignoring consequences or refusing appropriate medical, legal, workplace, community or emergency support.

Related reading

Follow the argument through neighboring verses.

Bhagavad Gita 2.47 separates action from possessive entitlement to fruit. Bhagavad Gita 2.50 continues the buddhi-yoga sequence and prevents “skill in action” from becoming a productivity slogan. Bhagavad Gita 3.19 develops action without attachment in Karma Yoga. Read together, these pages show a sustained discipline rather than isolated motivational quotations.

Sources & verification

Canonical text first; commentary stays attributed.

Reviewed 26 August 2026. SlokaSandra uses source witnesses to establish the verse and names interpretation layers explicitly instead of presenting one blended “Hindu meaning.”