संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Jñāneśvarī · Adhyāya 12

Cluster 0452 — BG-12.18 — *samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ — śīto-ṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ sanga-vivarjitaḥ*

BG-12.18

Sanskrit

समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथामानापमानयोः । शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥१८॥

Translation

EQUANIMOUS toward ENEMY and FRIEND, LIKEWISE in HONOR-and-DISHONOR — in COLD-HEAT-PLEASURE-PAIN EQUANIMOUS, ATTACHMENT-RENOUNCED.

Function

BG-12.18 is the precise iconic FIVE-FOLD-EQUANIMITY verse of the BG-12.13-19 priya-bhakta-catalog — the most-quoted equanimity-formula in the entire Bhagavad-Gītā. The five dvandva-pairs across which the priya-bhakta is SAMA: (1) ŚATRU-MITRA (enemy-friend); (2) MĀNA-APAMĀNA (honor-dishonor); (3) ŚĪTA-UṢṆA (cold-heat); (4) SUKHA-DUḤKHA (pleasure-pain); (5) plus SAṄGA-VIVARJITA (attachment-renounced) as synthesizing-summary.

The verse's pedagogical-architecture moves through THREE-PLANES of equanimity: (a) SOCIAL plane (ŚATRU-MITRA + MĀNA-APAMĀNA — relational-human-world); (b) PHYSICAL plane (ŚĪTA-UṢṆA — bodily-sensation-world); (c) PSYCHOLOGICAL plane (SUKHA-DUḤKHA — inner-affective-world) — converging in the SAṄGA-VIVARJITA renunciation-of-attachment-itself.

Jñāneśvar's 10-ovi treatment (12.197-12.206) renders the five-fold equanimity with SIX precise iconic Marathi elemental-similes in 5 sub-movements:

(i) 12.197 — opens with the explicit ŚATRU-MITRA equanimity declaration — pārthā jayācyā ṭhāyīm — vaiṣamyācī vārtā nāhīm — ripu-mitrām dōhīm — sarisā pāḍu (NO TALK of UNEVENNESS — ENEMY-FRIEND-BOTH — EQUAL-WEIGHT).

(ii) 12.198-12.200 — the iconic 3-ELEMENTAL-SIMILE triad for ŚATRU-MITRA equanimity: DĪPA-LAMP (does the lamp say 'light-for-household darkness-for-stranger'? — NO!) + VṚKṢA-TREE (same-shade to CHOPPER and PLANTER) + IKṢU-DAṆḌA-SUGARCANE (NOT-SWEET-to-PROTECTOR NOT-BITTER-to-CRUSHER).

(iii) 12.201 — the synthesis + pivot to MĀNA-APAMĀNA equanimity: ari-mitrīm taisā — arjunā jayā bhāvō aisā — mānāpamānīm sarisā — hōtu jāyē (so toward ENEMY-FRIEND — whose attitude is such — BECOMES-EQUAL in HONOR-DISHONOR).

(iv) 12.202-12.203 — the iconic GAGANA-SKY + MERU-MOUNTAIN elemental-similes for ŚĪTA-UṢṆA and SUKHA-DUḤKHA equanimity: SAME-in-THREE-SEASONS like the SKY (12.202) + MERU-between-SOUTH-NORTH-WIND (12.203).

(v) 12.204-12.206 — the iconic CANDRIKĀ-MOONLIGHT + UDAKA-WATER similes for universal-availability + the closing SAṄGA-VIVARJITA: MOONLIGHT-EQUAL-to-KING-BEGGAR (12.204) + WATER-EQUALLY-SERVED-to-THREE-WORLDS (12.205) + jō sabāhya-sanga sāṇḍōniyā lāga — ēkākīm asē ānga — āngīm sūnī (RENOUNCED INNER-OUTER attachments — ALONE in BODY — BODY FOLDED-INTO-ITSELF) (12.206).

Three precise Marathi elevations beyond the Sanskrit

  1. The DĪPA-LAMP rhetorical-question (12.198) — kām gharīmciyām ujiyēḍu karāvā — pārakhiyām āndhāru pāḍāvā — hēm nēṇē-ci gā pāṇḍavā — dīpu jaisā (does the lamp say 'shall I make LIGHT for the HOUSEHOLD and DARKNESS for the STRANGER'? — NO! — like the LAMP). Purely Marathi elemental-pedagogical elevation paralleling cluster 0447's PRĀṆA-UDAKA rhetorical-questions — the bhakta's ŚATRU-MITRA equanimity rendered as LAMP-LIKE impartial-illumination.

  2. The VṚKṢA-TREE + IKṢU-DAṆḌA-SUGARCANE pair (12.199-12.200) — jō khāṇḍāvayā ghāvō ghālī — kām lāvaṇī jayānē kelī — dōghām ēkachi sāuli — vṛkṣu dē jaisā (the TREE gives SAME-SHADE to the CHOPPER who STRIKES and the GARDENER who PLANTED) + nātarī ikṣu-daṇḍu — pāḷitayā gōḍu — gāḷitayā kaḍu — nōhēm-ci jevīm (SUGARCANE is NOT-SWEET to the PROTECTOR — NOT-BITTER to the CRUSHER). Purely Marathi elemental-pedagogical elevation — the iconic Marathi rendering of UNCHANGED-ESSENCE-under-OPPOSITE-TREATMENTS.

  3. The MERU-between-OPPOSING-WINDS (12.203) — dakṣiṇa uttara mārutā — meru jaisā pāṇḍusutā — taisā sukha-duḥkha-prāptām — madhyasthu jō (MERU between SOUTH and NORTH WIND — so MIDDLE-STANDING toward arriving-sukha-duḥkha). The MERU-image is purāṇic but the specific MERU-between-OPPOSING-WINDS for SUKHA-DUḤKHA equanimity is the precise iconic Marathi pedagogical-elevation — rendering equanimity as COSMIC-AXIAL-STABILITY. The madhyasthu (MIDDLE-STANDING) compound is purely Marathi pedagogical.

  4. The SABĀHYA-SAṄGA double-renunciation closing (12.206) — jō sabāhya-sanga sāṇḍōniyā lāga — ēkākīm asē ānga — āngīm sūnī (RENOUNCED INNER-OUTER attachment — ALONE in BODY — BODY FOLDED-INTO-ITSELF). The sabāhya-sanga compound extends the Sanskrit single sanga into DOUBLE-RENUNCIATION (sabāhya OUTER + abhyantara INNER). The ānga āngīm sūnī (body-folded-into-itself) is purely Marathi pedagogical-elevation rendering the renounced-bhakta as INTERIORLY-COMPLETE.

Arc-position

BG-12.18 is the precise FIVE-FOLD-EQUANIMITY verse within the BG-12.13-19 priya-bhakta-catalog. The chapter's argument now stands as: BG-12.1 = QUESTION → BG-12.2 = VERDICT (saguṇa-bhakta-YUKTA-TAMA) → BG-12.3-5 = AVYAKTA-PATH-DIFFICULTY → BG-12.6-7 = SAGUṆA-RESCUE → BG-12.8-12 = FIVE-PROGRESSIVE-DISCIPLINES → BG-12.13 = priya-bhakta-catalog OPENING (cluster 0447) → BG-12.14-16 = catalog-extension (clusters 0448-0450) → BG-12.17 = four-fold-negation + bhaktimān (cluster 0451) → BG-12.18 = FIVE-FOLD-EQUANIMITY (cluster 0452, NEW) → BG-12.19 = closing priya-bhakta-virtues → BG-12.20 = CONCLUDING-VERDICT.

Cluster 0452 delivers the climactic equanimity-formula immediately before the catalog's closing verses. The position is strategic: after BG-12.17's INNER-negations (na hṛṣyati + na dveṣṭi + na śocati + na kānkṣati), BG-12.18 extends the equanimity into OUTWARD-relational dvandvas. The 10-ovi architecture: ŚATRU-MITRA-opening (12.197) → ŚATRU-MITRA-3-elemental-similes (12.198-12.200) → MĀNA-APAMĀNA-synthesis (12.201) → ŚĪTA-UṢṆA-SKY (12.202) → SUKHA-DUḤKHA-MERU (12.203) → MOONLIGHT-WATER universal-availability (12.204-12.205) → SAṄGA-VIVARJITA-closing (12.206).