Bhagavad Gita 2.14 · BG 2.14
Chapter 2Verse 14
Sankhya Yoga
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः। आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ, āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
Translation
The contact between the senses and their objects gives rise to fleeting experiences of heat and cold, pleasure and pain. They come and go and do not last, so learn to tolerate them.
This too shall pass. Meet both joy and sorrow with the same steady heart.
What does this mean?
Sensation and circumstance are always in motion. Neither discomfort nor pleasure is permanent, and steadiness comes from not over-identifying with either while it passes through.
In simple words
Krishna is pointing out that heat and cold, comfort and pain, all come from the senses meeting the world, and none of them stick around. They show up, they pass. His advice is to learn to sit through them without letting each one throw you.
The deeper idea
The key idea is impermanence. The verse isn't denying that discomfort is real or that pleasure is nice. It's noting that both are temporary by nature, arising from contact and then fading. 'Learn to tolerate them' points at a skill rather than a mood. Steadiness comes from not over-identifying with whatever sensation is passing through right now, from treating it as weather rather than climate. That applies as much to a good feeling you want to cling to as to a bad one you want gone.
How it applies to life
A rough week at work, a stretch of loneliness, a run of things going well, all of it feels total while you're inside it. This verse is a reminder that the feeling has an expiry date built in. That's not an excuse to numb out or refuse to enjoy the good stretches. It's a way to keep your footing: when you're low, it will lift, and when you're high, hold it a little loosely, because that passes too.