Chapter II · Śloka 14
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः |
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ||
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ||
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ |
āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ||
āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ||
O son of Kuntī, the contacts of the senses with their objects bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go; they are impermanent. Bear them, O Bhārata.
Sensation is not the self — it is contact between the senses and passing objects, as transient as the things that trigger it. Titikṣā (forbearance without resentment) is the practical response: not suppression but patient non-identification.