Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 Verse 14: The Harsh Truth About Suffering No One Talks About
Nidhi | Mar 27, 2025, 11:35 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Suffering is an inevitable part of life, yet we resist it, hoping for an escape. Bhagavad Gita 2.14 reveals a profound truth: suffering, like joy, is temporary, and our resistance is what makes it unbearable. This article explores Krishna’s wisdom on enduring pain, understanding impermanence, and finding peace amidst chaos. If you’ve ever wondered why hardships feel personal or why suffering lingers, this thought-provoking read will change your perspective.
अशाश्वतमिदं लोकं न सुखं लभ्यते यतः।
(This world is impermanent; lasting happiness cannot be found here – Bhagavad Gita 9.33)
Pain is universal. It knocks on every door, uninvited. And yet, every time it arrives, we act surprised—why me? Why now? But maybe the real question isn’t why we suffer, but how we understand suffering.
The Bhagavad Gita isn’t just a scripture; it’s a conversation that has echoed through centuries, offering wisdom not just for saints and scholars, but for ordinary people like us—people who wake up to responsibilities, heartbreaks, ambitions, and fears. Krishna doesn’t promise a world without suffering. He simply hands us a mirror and says: “Look closely. What you think is suffering might not be what it seems.”
We treat suffering like it’s a life sentence, forgetting that even the worst winters give way to spring. Krishna reminds us:
“Pleasure and pain come and go like seasons; endure them.”
But instead of accepting this flow, we fight it. We crave happiness and resist sorrow, making our pain last longer than it needs to. Imagine standing in the rain, refusing to get wet—it’s exhausting, isn’t it? What if, instead, we just let it pass through us?
“Why me?” The ego whispers this every time life throws a challenge at us. But Krishna cuts through this illusion:
“You are not the doer, nor the sufferer. You are the observer.”
We are so attached to our own struggles that we start defining ourselves by them. But just like clouds don’t define the sky, pain doesn’t define who we are. Imagine watching a movie—you feel for the characters, but you know it’s just a story. What if we viewed our own suffering the same way?
Everything in life is temporary—success, failure, relationships, even our own bodies. Yet, we cling to them as if they’re permanent. Krishna puts it bluntly:
“That which has a beginning has an end.”
We suffer because we expect things to last forever. A love that ends feels like betrayal. A job loss feels like the end of the world. But what if we accepted impermanence instead of fearing it? It’s like holding sand in your hand—the tighter you grip, the faster it slips away. Maybe peace comes, not from holding on, but from learning to let go.
Most of our suffering doesn’t come from what happens to us, but from our struggle to control things we never had power over. Krishna’s words break this illusion:
“You have the right to action, but not to the fruits of action.”
We work hard expecting success, we love expecting loyalty, we live expecting fairness. And when reality doesn’t match our expectations, we suffer. But what if we focused only on what’s in our control—our effort, our intentions—and let go of what isn’t?
Think of an artist painting a masterpiece. If they constantly worry about how others will perceive it, they lose the joy of creating. What if we lived the same way?
The world is chaotic. Our minds are even noisier. We chase happiness, flee from suffering, and in doing so, we miss the stillness that has always been within us. Krishna doesn’t offer escape; he offers something greater:
“One who remains unmoved in joy and sorrow, in gain and loss, is truly free.”
Freedom isn’t about avoiding pain. It’s about not being consumed by it. Imagine standing in the middle of a storm but feeling untouched by the wind. That’s the kind of peace Krishna talks about—not the absence of suffering, but the presence of something greater than suffering.
We spend our lives fearing pain, running from it, resenting it. But what if we stopped seeing suffering as an enemy and instead saw it as a teacher? What if pain wasn’t something to escape, but something to understand?
Maybe Krishna wasn’t asking us to defeat suffering. Maybe he was just reminding us—we were never truly bound by it in the first place.
(This world is impermanent; lasting happiness cannot be found here – Bhagavad Gita 9.33)
Pain is universal. It knocks on every door, uninvited. And yet, every time it arrives, we act surprised—why me? Why now? But maybe the real question isn’t why we suffer, but how we understand suffering.
The Bhagavad Gita isn’t just a scripture; it’s a conversation that has echoed through centuries, offering wisdom not just for saints and scholars, but for ordinary people like us—people who wake up to responsibilities, heartbreaks, ambitions, and fears. Krishna doesn’t promise a world without suffering. He simply hands us a mirror and says: “Look closely. What you think is suffering might not be what it seems.”
1. Pain Is a Season, Not a Sentence
Pain
( Image credit : Pexels )
“Pleasure and pain come and go like seasons; endure them.”
But instead of accepting this flow, we fight it. We crave happiness and resist sorrow, making our pain last longer than it needs to. Imagine standing in the rain, refusing to get wet—it’s exhausting, isn’t it? What if, instead, we just let it pass through us?
2. We Personalize Pain—And That’s Where We Go Wrong
Why Me?
( Image credit : Freepik )
“You are not the doer, nor the sufferer. You are the observer.”
We are so attached to our own struggles that we start defining ourselves by them. But just like clouds don’t define the sky, pain doesn’t define who we are. Imagine watching a movie—you feel for the characters, but you know it’s just a story. What if we viewed our own suffering the same way?
3. We Cling to the Temporary and Wonder Why It Hurts
Sad
( Image credit : Pexels )
“That which has a beginning has an end.”
We suffer because we expect things to last forever. A love that ends feels like betrayal. A job loss feels like the end of the world. But what if we accepted impermanence instead of fearing it? It’s like holding sand in your hand—the tighter you grip, the faster it slips away. Maybe peace comes, not from holding on, but from learning to let go.
4. The Illusion of Control: The Real Cause of Our Suffering
UNO reverse
“You have the right to action, but not to the fruits of action.”
We work hard expecting success, we love expecting loyalty, we live expecting fairness. And when reality doesn’t match our expectations, we suffer. But what if we focused only on what’s in our control—our effort, our intentions—and let go of what isn’t?
Think of an artist painting a masterpiece. If they constantly worry about how others will perceive it, they lose the joy of creating. What if we lived the same way?
5. Finding Stillness in the Storm
Chaos
“One who remains unmoved in joy and sorrow, in gain and loss, is truly free.”
Freedom isn’t about avoiding pain. It’s about not being consumed by it. Imagine standing in the middle of a storm but feeling untouched by the wind. That’s the kind of peace Krishna talks about—not the absence of suffering, but the presence of something greater than suffering.
Final Thought: What If We Saw Suffering Differently?
Maybe Krishna wasn’t asking us to defeat suffering. Maybe he was just reminding us—we were never truly bound by it in the first place.