Shloka 15
न जीयते चानुजिगीषते<न्यान् न वैरकृच्चाप्रतिघातकश्न । निन्दाप्रशंसासु समस्वभावो न शोचते हृष्पति नैव चायम्,जो न तो स्वयं किसीसे जीता जाता, न दूसरोंको जीतनेकी इच्छा करता है, न किसीके साथ वैर करता और न दूसरोंको चोट पहुँचाना चाहता है, जो निन्दा और प्रशंसामें समानभाव रखता है, वह हर्ष-शोकसे परे हो जाता है
na jīyate cānujigīṣate 'nyān na vairakṛc cāpratighātakaś ca | nindāpraśaṃsāsu samasvabhāvo na śocate hṛṣyati naiva cāyam ||
The Haṃsa said: He is not conquered by others, nor does he seek to conquer anyone. He neither harbors enmity nor wishes to strike or injure another. Remaining of equal disposition amid blame and praise, such a person is not shaken by sorrow and does not exult in joy—he passes beyond both.
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches inner freedom through non-competitiveness, non-enmity, and non-harm, grounded in equanimity toward praise and blame. One who neither seeks to dominate nor retaliate, and who remains even-minded, transcends the oscillation of joy and sorrow.
In Udyoga Parva, amid counsel and moral instruction before the great war, the speaker identified as Haṃsa delivers a teaching on the marks of a spiritually mature and ethically disciplined person—describing the temperament that remains unshaken by social approval or condemnation and avoids hostility and harm.