Steady in Joy and Sorrow
Pleasure and pain, gain and loss, come and go like seasons — the wise meet both with an even mind.
Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating.
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते।।2.48।।
yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga uchyate
Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and failure; evenness of mind is called Yoga.
Common thread
Don't be tossed by the waves; the one anchored in the Self greets joy and grief with the same calm.
Echo
The Mundaka's two birds — one tasting the fruit, one watching serenely — the Gita's “equanimity is yoga,” and the Guru's “one unmoved by pleasure and pain, who sees friend and foe alike.”
📖 A story to understand
Made to sit upon a burning iron plate as scorching sand was poured over him, Guru Arjan uttered no cry of complaint. “Tera kiya meetha laage” — sweet is Your will to me — was all he breathed. Agony and peace he met with the same steady, God-filled calm.
Traditional sakhi / story (simplified retelling)