Established in yoga, perform actions abandoning attachment, Dhanañjaya. Remaining equal in success and failure — this equanimity is called yoga.

Here Kṛṣṇa offers a fundamental definition: samatvaṃ yoga ucyate — “yoga is equanimity.” It refers not to postures or breathing techniques but to an inner state of balance.

Siddhi-asiddhi (success-failure) represent the pairs of opposites (dvandva) that agitate the mind. The yogī remains stable before both, not because the result is indifferent to them, but because their identity doesn’t depend on it.

Yoga-sthaḥ means “established in yoga” — acting from that base of inner stability, not toward it. First the state, then the action.

This verse transforms yoga from “something you do” to “something you are.” The practice of āsana trains this equanimity: when a posture “doesn’t work,” how does your mind respond? That response is the true measure of yoga.

The word sama (equal, equanimous) appears twice, emphasizing balance as the essence.