मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥
mātrāsparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ |āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ||
- मात्रास्पर्शाः · mātrāsparśāḥ
- contacts of the senses with their objects
- तु · tu
- but, indeed
- कौन्तेय · kaunteya
- O son of Kunti (Arjuna)
- शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः · śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ
- giving cold and heat, pleasure and pain
- आगमापायिनः · āgamāpāyinaḥ
- coming and going, transient
- अनित्याः · anityāḥ
- impermanent
- तान् · tān
- them
- तितिक्षस्व · titikṣasva
- endure, bear with fortitude
- भारत · bhārata
- O Bharata (Arjuna)
“The senses' contact with their objects, O son of Kunti, gives cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go, impermanent — endure them, O Bharata.”
— Original plain-language translation
The first practice the Gita prescribes is not metaphysics but endurance: titikṣā. Pleasure and pain are weather — real while present, gone by nature. Wisdom begins in refusing to build foundations on what passes.
— Reader's notes (original)