संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.

Cluster 0511 — BG-14.25 — *mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ — sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate*

BG-14.25

Sanskrit

मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः । सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥२५॥

Translation

EQUAL (tulyaḥ) in MĀNA-APAMĀNA (māna-apamānayoḥ) — EQUAL (tulyaḥ) in MITRA-ARI-PARTY (mitra-ari-pakṣayoḥ) — SARVA-ĀRAMBHA-PARITYĀGĪ (renouncer-of-all-undertakings) — HE (saḥ) is called (ucyate) GUṆĀTĪTA (guṇātītaḥ).

Function

BG-14.25 IS THE ICONIC GUṆĀTĪTA-COMPLETION-VERSE — the final and conclusive sloka of the BG-14.22-25 lakṣaṇa-catalog answering Arjuna's BG-14.21 first-and-second-questions (kair-lingais + kim-ācāraḥ). The verse delivers the climactic four-criterion definitional-bundle:

  • MĀNA-APAMĀNA equanimity — the social-valuation pair.
  • MITRA-ARI-PAKṢA equanimity — the personal-affiliation pair.
  • SARVA-ĀRAMBHA-PARITYĀGĪ — the renunciation-of-all-undertakings signature-action-mode.
  • GUṆĀTĪTA-IS-CALLED — the final naming-predicate closing the lakṣaṇa-catalog.

The verse closes the equanimity-progression begun at BG-14.24 (the inner-and-impersonal equanimities) by ascending to the iconic SOCIAL-AFFILIATIONAL pair (MĀNA-APAMĀNA + MITRA-ARI) that BG-14.24 had NOT named, then crowns the catalog with the SARVA-ĀRAMBHA-PARITYĀGĪ active-renunciation-marker before issuing the final GUṆĀTĪTA-IS-CALLED naming-predicate. The BG-14.21 three-part question is now answered: BG-14.22-25 LAKṢAṆA-block answers the FIRST and SECOND questions (kair-lingais + kim-ācāraḥ); BG-14.26 will answer the THIRD question (katham ativartate) with the BHAKTI-YOGA-UPĀYA verse.

Jñāneśvar's 9-ovi Treatment

Jñāneśvar's treatment (14.362-14.370) renders the verse with compact Marathi pedagogical-architecture (3+2+2+1+1):

(i) 14.362-14.364 — The MĀNA-APAMĀNA + MITRA-ARI Equanimity-Block (3 ovis)

  • 14.362 — ĪŚVARA-WORSHIP-vs-THIEF-CHASTISEMENT + ROYAL-ELEPHANT-BULL-ENTHRONEMENTīśvara mhaṇauni pūjilā — kām choru mhaṇauni gāñjilā — vrṣa-gajīm veḍhilā — kelā rāvo (WHETHER WORSHIPPED AS ĪŚVARA OR CHASTISED AS THIEF — SURROUNDED BY BULL AND ELEPHANT MADE A KING). The iconic extreme-polar-pair rendering MĀNA-APAMĀNA.

  • 14.363 — SUHRD-VAIRI-AS-TEJAS-KNOWS-NO-NIGHT-NO-DAWNkām suhrd pāsīm āle — athavā vairī varapaḍe jāle — parī neṇē rātī pāhāḷēm — tēja jevīm (WHETHER SUHRD CAME NEAR OR VAIRI CONFRONTED — BUT KNOWS NEITHER NIGHT NOR DAWN — LIKE TEJAS). The iconic self-luminous-simile rendering MITRA-ARI-PAKṢA equanimity.

  • 14.364 — SIX-RTUS-DON'T-STAIN-ĀKĀŚA + VAIṢAMYA-MĀNASĒṂ-NEṆIJENĀsāhīm rtu yetām ākāśēm — limpijechi nā jaisēm — tevīm vaiśamya mānasēm — jāṇijenā (LIKE THE SKY THE SIX RTUS CANNOT STAIN AS THEY ARRIVE — SO NO INEQUALITY IS KNOWN BY THE MANAS). The iconic cosmological-simile closing the equanimity-block.

(ii) 14.365-14.366 — The SARVA-ĀRAMBHA-PARITYĀGA Block (2 ovis)

  • 14.365 — ĀCĀRU-yet-no-VYĀPĀRA paradoxāṇīkahī eku pāhīm — ācāru tayācyā ṭhāyīm — tarī vyāpārāsi nāhīm — jālēm disē (BEHOLD ANOTHER MARK — AN ĀCĀRA IN HIS PLACE — BUT NO VYĀPĀRA SEEMS TO BE). The iconic action-without-initiating-impulse paradox opening sarvārambha-parityāga.

  • 14.366 — KARMA-PHALAS-BURN-HE-IS-THE-AGNIsarvārambhā uṭakalēm — pravrttīchēm tētha māvaḷalēm — jaḷatī gā karmaphaḷēm — tē to āgī (ALL SARVĀRAMBHA RISEN AWAY — PRAVRTTI SET LIKE THE SUN — KARMA-PHALAS BURN — HE IS THE AGNI). The iconic BG-4.19-jñānāgni-dagdha-karma echo.

(iii) 14.367-14.368 — The DRṢṬA-ADRṢṬA + PĀṢĀṆA-IMPASSIVITY Extension (2 ovis)

  • 14.367 — DRṢṬA-ADRṢṬA-KARMA indifference + SVABHĀVA-receptiondrṣṭādrṣṭāchēni nāmvēm — bhāvochi jīvīm nugavēm — sevī jēm kām svabhāvēm — paiṭhēm hōyē (NEITHER BY THE NAME DRṢṬA NOR ADRṢṬA DOES BHĀVA ARISE IN THE JĪVA — WHAT COMES BY SVABHĀVA HE RECEIVES).

  • 14.368 — PĀṢĀṆA-NO-SUKHA-NO-ŚĪṆA + SĀṆḌĪ-MĀṆḌĪ-warding-offsukhe nā śiṇe — pāṣāṇu kām jeṇē mānēm — taisī sāṇḍīmāṇḍī manēm — varjilī asē (NEITHER SUKHA NOR ŚĪṆA — LIKE A PĀṢĀṆA — SO MENTAL DROPPING-AND-TAKING-UP IS WARDED OFF). The iconic stone-impassivity-simile + mental-impulse-renunciation closing.

(iv) 14.369 — The Climactic GUṆĀTĪTA-DECLARATION (1 ovi)

  • 14.369ātām kitī hā vistāru — jāṇē aisā ācāru — jayātē tochi sācāru — guṇātītu (NOW WHY EXTEND THIS FURTHER — WHO KNOWS SUCH ĀCĀRA — WHOEVER HAS THIS — HE IS THE TRUE GUṆĀTĪTA). The iconic SĀCĀRU-TRUE-GENUINE final-naming-predicate closing the entire BG-14.22-25 LAKṢAṆA-block.

(v) 14.370 — The Iconic PIVOT-TO-BG-14.26 (1 ovi)

  • 14.370guṇāmtē atikramaṇē — ghaḍe upāyē jeṇē — to ātā āika mhaṇe — Śrīkrṣṇanāthu (the MEANS by which GUṆA-TRANSCENDENCE HAPPENS — NOW LISTEN says ŚRĪKRṢṆANĀTHU). The iconic editorial-bridge from LAKṢAṆA-block to UPĀYA-verse, with the iconic Nāth-yoga-lineage Śrīkrṣṇanāthu vocative pivoting to BG-14.26's BHAKTI-YOGA-UPĀYA verse.

The cluster delivers BG-14.25's GUṆĀTĪTA-COMPLETION-VERSE with the precise four-criterion architecture honored by 9 ovis (3+2+2+1+1), closing the BG-14.22-25 LAKṢAṆA-block and setting up the BG-14.26 BHAKTI-YOGA-UPĀYA pivot. The 14.370 ovi is the iconic adhyāya-14 transition-marker explicitly signalling the LAKṢAṆA→UPĀYA shift answering Arjuna's BG-14.21 third-question (katham ativartate) with the iconic Nāth-yoga lineage-marker Śrīkrṣṇanāthu vocative.