duhkeshvanudvignamanaah sukheshu vigatspruhah
veetaraagabhayakrodaha sthitadheermuniruchyate

dukheshuhu – in adversities
anudvignamanaah – not affected
sukheshu –for pleasure
vigatspruhah – one who is without yearning
vita-raga-bhaya-krodhaha- one who is free from fear, anger and longing
munih – the wise person
sthidahih – one whose knowledge stays
ucyate – is said

The one who is not affected by adversities, who is without yearning for pleasures and is free from longing, fear and anger is said to be a wise person whose knowledge stays.

The three fold source of sorrow – Dukahah or sorrow has three sources.

Adhyatmika – is a pain where your own body, mind and senses are the source. E.g. head ache, stomach ache or any body ailment.

Adhibaudhika – is a pain which is caused by situation around you e.g. people, environment.

Adhidaivika – is a pain which is caused by natural causes e.g lightning, earthquake, natural calamities.

So while the sorrow is three fold there are not different types of sorrow. Sorrow is one single element and it expresses in 3 ways. E.g. weeping, wailing, sadness etc. But the sorrow itself is only one single view. Because the source of pain is possible even for the wise person, what does he do? Does he stop having headaches or does he say that he does not have headache?

This verse says that even though the wise person has headache, he understands that it is part of his body and does not get deeply worried about it and continues with his duty. He does not really see it as Dukahah. What happens if he sees this as Dukahah? He gets worried, disturbed, shaken by sorrow and the headache now becomes a reality. If you keep thinking that I have a headache and get deeper into it, you will notice that your pain actually increases as now you are constantly thinking about it and not accepting that ‘Yes, I have a headache’, so what’. But if you continue to delve deep into it, it is possible that you could become a pain in the neck for someone. You can lose your temper, get angry or scold someone. You get a reaction and that triggers further action etc etc. So the end is not there.

But a wise person what does he do? He recognizes that he has this problem and deals with it without getting unduly worried. He accepts that it is Adhyatmika and is caused by his own body and no one else is causing this.

What about pleasure then? Does the wise person dance, rejoice and throw a party when he is happy? No. This person even when he gets pleasure, he remains content and behaves with a samatvam attitude. He understands that pleasure is temporary, just like pain. It is going to go away and why chase or revel in something which gives me temporary pleasure? Another example here is that if you feed a fire with more logs, ghee, it is going to get bigger. Initially it is just a flame but if you fuel your desire, or pain, or pleasure it is going to rage and you can get affected by it without knowing that it is only temporary and it is going to go away any case.

Absence of fear – bhaya
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Karma indicates duality. The notion is that I am the doer, I am the body, I am fat, small, tall etc. All these are associated with the ‘I’ who is different from the real deep inner ‘I’ which you are. That brings the duality into picture; the jiva and the ishwara are different. So the fear factor comes in as you think that there is something outside of me and that can come and harm me. A second thing is required to create fear. If there is no duality, where does the fear factor come in?

Absence of anger – krodahah
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Anger is nothing but another form of raga. The desire itself when not met can turn into anger. You may love a person one day as he or she is fulfilling your desires. But the same person can become a target of your anger if your desire is not met. Here nothing has changed, the person is the same, but your desire has turned direction and has 2 different results. So if you are able to remain calm and not get overly elated when your desires get fulfilled nor get angry when you don’t get what you want, your mind is at peace and also the other person is living at peace. Otherwise it is hell both sides.

This characteristic becomes a sadhana for a mumukshu or an enlightened person.