Cold and heat come and go

mātrāsparśāstu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥāgamāpāyino’anityāstāṃstitikṣasva bhārata

Son of Kunti, cold and heat, pleasure and pain come from the senses. They come and go. Bear them patiently.

What it means

Krishna gives a practical teaching. Every feeling arises when the senses touch the world. Heat and cold. Pleasure and pain. And all of them pass. He doesn't say ignore them. He says titikshasva, endure them, let them move through without being swept away.

The story

Arjuna is drowning in sorrow. Krishna reminds him that sorrow is weather, not climate. The same man who shivered in the Himalayas during exile and sweated in the forests survived all of it. This storm will pass too.

In your life

Picture someone on a long-haul flight with a crying baby nearby, stuck for twelve hours. Annoyance rises, peaks and fades. Next time a hard feeling comes, say to yourself, this is passing through. Then breathe.