Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.17
॥
Devanāgarī
कायेन मनसा वाचा शत्रुभिः परिपीडिते । बुद्धिक्षोभनिवृत्तिर्या क्षमा सा मुनिपुङ्गव
Transliteration (IAST)
kāyena manasā vācā śatrubhiḥ paripīḍite | buddhikṣobhanivṛttiryā kṣamā sā munipuṅgava
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कायेन मनसा वाचाkāyena manasā vācāby body, mind, speech
शत्रुभिः परिपीडितेśatrubhiḥ paripīḍitewhen oppressed by enemies
बुद्धि-क्षोभ-निवृत्तिः याbuddhi-kṣobha-nivṛttiḥ yāwhat cessation of the disturbance of the intellect
क्षमा सा मुनि-पुङ्गवkṣamā sā muni-puṅgavathat is patience, O bull among sages
Translation
"When oppressed by enemies in body, mind, and speech — the cessation of the disturbance of the intellect: that, O bull among sages, is patience."
Version
4ed6ebfa9f2c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Kshama, "patience," is defined not as failing to respond, but as buddhi-kshobha-nivritti, "the cessation of the disturbance of the intellect." The word kshobha means "agitation, disturbance, roiling"; it is said this way of water that has been stirred up and made muddy. This definition is precise and deserves examination, for it shifts the emphasis from conduct to state.
One can endure in two ways. One can hold one's tongue while seething within — and this is self-control, a useful thing, but not lasting: sooner or later it breaks out, and until then it poisons. Or one can not become disturbed at all — and then there is, in essence, nothing to endure.
What is named here is the second, and named directly: not "do not answer," but "let the intellect not be disturbed." The consequence of this is unwelcome and must be stated. Patience in this sense is not a matter of will: whether one becomes disturbed or not is not decided by decision. It is a consequence of how attached a person is to what has been touched.
Hence one and the same person calmly bears certain insults and flares up at others: disturbance arises where something dear has been touched. The Vaishnava side concludes from this that patience is developed not by practicing patience, but by changing what is dear. The Gita speaks of this in describing one steady of intellect: "one who does not rejoice on obtaining the pleasant, and does not turn away on obtaining the unpleasant... that one is established" (5.20); and this establishment is called there a consequence of brahmani sthitah, "standing in brahman," not of an effort to restrain oneself.