Upanishads · Mahā 6.64
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राप्तकर्मकरो नित्यं शत्रुमित्रसमानदृक् ईहितानीहितैर्मुक्तो न शोचति न काङ्क्षति
Transliteration (IAST)
prāptakarmakaro nityaṃ śatrumitrasamānadṛk īhitānīhitairmukto na śocati na kāṅkṣati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राप्त-कर्म-करः नित्यम्prāpta-karma-karaḥ nityamever doing the task that has come; always performing the work that offered itself
शत्रु-मित्र-समान-दृक्śatru-mitra-samāna-dṛklooking equally on foe and friend; with an even eye upon enemy and companion
ईहित-अनीहितैः मुक्तःīhita-anīhitaiḥ muktaḥfreed from the wished and the unwished; released from the sought and the shunned
न शोचति न काङ्क्षतिna śocati na kāṅkṣatihe neither grieves nor craves; he neither sorrows nor covets
Translation
“Ever doing the task that has come to him, looking equally on foe and friend, freed from the wished and the unwished — he neither grieves nor craves.”
Version
2f999b41a5f1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last line is almost verbatim from the Bhagavad-gītā, where it is said of one established in Brahman: “he neither grieves nor craves”.
Note śatru-mitra-samāna-dṛk — “looking equally on foe and friend”. Also a Gītā turn.
It does not mean he cannot tell who is his enemy. He can; but his gaze upon both is one.
The first line — prāpta-karma-kara, “doing the task that has come” — repeats the rule of 5.170: what has come, take up.
The whole verse is, in essence, a summary of karma-yoga, and the book gives it without any transition, as a thing self-evident.
Probably because by this point the reader has already passed through everything from which it follows.