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Bhagavad Gita · 13.8 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·8 of 35

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम्आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः

amānitvam adambhitvam ahinsā kṣhāntir ārjavam

āchāryopāsanaṁ śhauchaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ

Sanskrit recitation

The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching

Translation

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forgiveness, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, and self-control.

Meaning

These are the alities that constitute wisdom or lead to wisdom. These are the attributes of the man whose mind is turned towards the inner wisdom. If these characteristics are seen in a man in their entirety, you can infer that the knowledge of the Self has dawned in him.Humility It is the negation of vanity. It is absence of selfesteem or selfpraise. The basis of pride is the consciousness of possessing something (wealth, knowledge, strength, beauty and virtuous alities) in a larger measure than others. A proud man possesses at least something but a man of vanity possesses nothing and yet he thinks he is superior to others. Vanity is exaggerated pride. A humble man dislikes respect, honour and praise. He shuns fame and distinction. He never shows his knowledge, ability, prowess, etc. He never praises himself.Absence of hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the desire to appear what one is not. A Sannyasi has some virtues and a little theoretical knowledge derived from books. He pretends to be a liberated sage. This is religious hypocrisy. A man in whom this is absent is simple and modest. He never advertises his own virtuous alities in order to get respect, name and worship from others. He will never disclose any meritorious or charitable act done by him. He is free from pedantry

After Swami Sivananda

The field and the knower· 13.1–13.18

Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.

Word-by-word
ahinsā
non-violence
ārjavam
simplicity
sthairyam
steadfastness
śhaucham
cleanliness of body and mind
amānitvam
humbleness
adambhitvam
freedom from hypocrisy
kṣhāntiḥ
forgiveness
ātma-vinigrahaḥ
self-control
āchārya-upāsanam
service of the Guru

Related verses

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