समत्वं योग उच्यते

We hear news about people around us daily – their trials and tribulations, minor wins and major victories, the glories or failures and how they are coping with it. We all have that one friend who is always moping (!) however bright the sun may be shining for him/her… and there are some rockstars who seem to be facing so much adversity yet are very balanced and cheerful.

While one may say - Life is fleeting, life is fragile, life is unpredictable…. But this is THE TRUTH for all of us. Then, why is it that some seem to be coping better than others???

Well, the answer is simple – Equanimity or सम-भाव – equal consideration of anything and everything that comes your way. The more adept you become at practising equanimity, the better disposition you find yourself in day by day.

This concept of “Equanimity” comes up again and again in almost all our scriptures - be it the Vedas, Upanishads or the BhagwadGeeta. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the BhagwadGeeta - समत्वं योग उच्यते – “Equanimity” is “Yog” (being in sync with the Supreme).

Equanimity can be loosely translated as being calm, unruffled, composed, un-agitated, accepting – in all situations.

When you score great in a test and poorly in the next, when you must face yet another rejection on that job application, when you need to overcome the loss of a dear one, … and many such moments, facing such experiences with Equanimity helps us deal with them better and come out stronger and more resilient.

Well, “Easier said than done”, you may say and rightly so. It takes patience and a lot of effort to train yourself to be equanimous always and great Yogis achieve it after lifetimes of practice.

Luckily for us, we have a treasure of संस्कृत वाङ्गमय (Literature), wherein Kavis have explained difficult concepts with simple analogies for us to follow easily.

Like this shloka –

उदेति सविता ताम्रस्ताम्र एवास्तमेति च। सम्पतौ च विपत्तौ च महतामेकरूपता॥

equanimity

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It means that

उदेति सविता ताम्रः            The sun is red when rising

ताम्रः एव अस्तमेति च।        and it is red at the time of setting also.

सम्पतौ च विपत्तौ च महताम् एकरूपता॥  (Similarly,) noble people remain the same during happiness and adversity.

The beauty of the shloka lies in the fact that it takes a simple, everyday example to drive home an eternal truth. Now, whenever you see the Sun at any time of the day, you are reminded to be calm and unruffled whatever may be the situation – just like him.

Make the Sun your inspiration – it rises and sets every day in the same manner, it gives energy to the earth no matter what, it sees everything happening around it but is unaffected by it.

Equanimity does not mean that successes shouldn’t make you joyous or failures, sad. It means that while you are happy or sad, you accept it as a transient moment – something that will pass and get replaced by a new moment that will bring another emotion. Thus, you don’t keep holding on to the emotion longer than necessary.

Being unaffected doesn’t mean that if you see someone suffering you don’t feel for that person or offer a helping hand. It means that of course, you help others in need, but don’t expect anything in return.

The earlier in life that you get on this path of समत्वम् , the more benefits you are likely to reap.

।। शुभास्ते पन्थानः सन्तु ।। (May your journey be auspicious!)