Chapter V · Śloka 23
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् |
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ||
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ||
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṃ prāk śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt |
kāma-krodhod-bhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ ||
kāma-krodhod-bhavaṃ vegaṃ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ ||
One who is able to withstand, here in this life before the liberation of the body, the impulse arising from desire and anger — that one is a yogi, that one is happy.
The test is given this lifetime, in this body. Not some future state but the present capacity to meet the surging impulse of desire or rage without being swept into it — to feel the wave and remain standing. This is the practical mark of the yogi.