What the scriptures say about discernment

What do the scriptures say about discernment?

The texts call it viveka (विवेक). Telling the good from the pleasant, the lasting from the passing, what is mine to do from what is not. This is viveka. They set it against fear, a restless mind and a moral dilemma.

257 verses
73 stories
Heals the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Krishna

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये । बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ॥

pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye | bandhaṃ mokṣaṃ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||

The understanding that knows action and withdrawal, what should and should not be done, what is to be feared and what not, bondage and freedom, that understanding is sattvic, Partha.

Bhagavad Gita 18.30

Discernment in the texts' own words

Verses that show it in a person, or name it outright.

Krishna
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये । बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ॥
pravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye | bandhaṃ mokṣaṃ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||
The understanding that knows action and withdrawal, what should and should not be done, what is to be feared and what not, bondage and freedom, that understanding is sattvic, Partha.
Bhagavad Gita 18.30
Tulsidas
बिनु सतसंग बिबेक न होई। राम कृपा बिनु सुलभ न सोई॥ सतसंगत मुद मंगल मूला। सोई फल सिधि सब साधन फूला ॥
binu satasaṃg bibek na hoī| rām kṛpā binu sulabh na soī|| satasaṃgat mud maṃgal mūlā| soī phal sidhi sab sādhan phūlā ||
Without good company there is no clear judgement, and by Ram's grace alone such company comes easily. Good company is the root of joy and well-being; finding it is the fruit, and every other practice is only the flower.
Ramcharitmanas · Bal Kand
Yama
श्रेयश्च प्रेयश्च मनुष्यमेतस्तौ सम्परीत्य विविनक्ति धीर:। श्रेयो हि धीरोऽभि प्रेयसो वृणीते प्रेयो मन्दो योगक्षेमाद् वृणीते ॥
śreyaśca preyaśca manuṣyametastau samparītya vivinakti dhīra:| śreyo hi dhīro’bhi preyaso vṛṇīte preyo mando yogakṣemād vṛṇīte ||
The good and the pleasant both come to a person. The wise one examines them and tells them apart. The wise chooses the good over the pleasant; the dull chooses the pleasant, for getting and keeping.
Katha Upanishad 1.2.2

How it grows, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

The four gatekeepers

Yoga Vasishtha, Mumukshu Prakarana 11-16

Peace
Discernment
Contentment
good company

Calm, inquiry, contentment and good company are the four gatekeepers at the door of freedom. Befriend one with full effort and the others follow.

Vasishtha
नित्यं सज्जनसंपर्काद्विवेक उपजायते । विवेकपादपस्यैव भोगमोक्षौ फले स्मृतौ ॥
nityaṃ sajjanasaṃparkādviveka upajāyate | vivekapādapasyaiva bhogamokṣau phale smṛtau ||
From constant contact with good people, discernment is born; and the fruits of the tree of discernment are both enjoyment and freedom.
Yoga Vasishtha
Vasishtha
सुसंनद्धसमस्ताङ्गं प्रशमामृतवर्मणा । वेधयन्ति न दुःखानि शरा वज्रशिलामिव ॥
susaṃnaddhasamastāṅgaṃ praśamāmṛtavarmaṇā | vedhayanti na duḥkhāni śarā vajraśilāmiva ||
One whose whole being is armoured in the nectar of calm is not pierced by sorrows, as arrows cannot pierce a diamond rock.
Yoga Vasishtha
Vasishtha
विचारात्तीक्ष्णतामेत्य धीः पश्यति परं पदम् । दीर्घसंसाररोगस्य विचारो हि महौषधम् ॥
vicārāttīkṣṇatāmetya dhīḥ paśyati paraṃ padam | dīrghasaṃsārarogasya vicāro hi mahauṣadham ||
Sharpened by inquiry, the mind sees the highest. Inquiry is the great medicine for the long illness of worldly life.
Yoga Vasishtha

No discernment without good company

Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 3; Uttar Kand 61

good company
Discernment
Doubt

Without good company there is no discernment, and that company comes by grace. Doubts do not end in a passing talk, and they clear with long time among the good.

Tulsidas
बिनु सतसंग बिबेक न होई। राम कृपा बिनु सुलभ न सोई॥ सतसंगत मुद मंगल मूला। सोई फल सिधि सब साधन फूला ॥
binu satasaṃg bibek na hoī| rām kṛpā binu sulabh na soī|| satasaṃgat mud maṃgal mūlā| soī phal sidhi sab sādhan phūlā ||
Without good company there is no clear judgement, and by Ram's grace alone such company comes easily. Good company is the root of joy and well-being; finding it is the fruit, and every other practice is only the flower.
Ramcharitmanas · Bal Kand
Tulsidas
सठ सुधरहिं सतसंगति पाई। पारस परस कुधात सुहाई॥ बिधि बस सुजन कुसंगत परहीं। फनि मनि सम निज गुन अनुसरहीं ॥
saṭh sudharahiṃ satasaṃgati pāī| pāras paras kudhāt suhāī|| bidhi bas sujan kusaṃgat parahīṃ| phani mani sam nij gun anusarahīṃ ||
Even the crooked improve in good company, the way base metal turns to gold at the touch of the philosopher's stone. And if by chance good people fall among bad company, they keep their own nature, like the jewel in a cobra's hood that never takes on its poison.
Ramcharitmanas · Bal Kand
Shiva
मिलेहु गरुड़ मारग महँ मोही। कवन भाँति समुझावौं तोही॥ तबहिं होइ सब संसय भंगा। जब बहु काल करिअ सतसंगा ॥
milehu garuṛ mārag mahaṁ mohī| kavan bhāṁti samujhāvauṃ tohī|| tabahiṃ hoi sab saṃsay bhaṃgā| jab bahu kāl karia satasaṃgā ||
You met me on the road; how can I explain it to you in passing? All doubts end only when one spends a long time in good company.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

Not always force, not always forgiveness

Mahabharata, Vana Parva 28-29

Prahlada, quoted by Draupadi, states that force is not always better and forgiveness is not always better. A person who always forgives is walked over by servants, strangers, and enemies. A person who never forgives is feared and hated. One should forgive the first offence and the one done in ignorance and know the time for each. Yudhishthira answers with the praise of forgiveness, and the epic lets both stand.

Prahlada (quoted by Draupadi)
न श्रेयः सततं तेजो न नित्यं श्रेयसी क्षमा / इति तात विजानीहि द्वयमेतदसंशयम्
na śreyaḥ satataṃ tejo na nityaṃ śreyasī kṣamā / iti tāta vijānīhi dvayametadasaṃśayam
Force is not always best, and forgiveness is not always best. Know this for certain, my child: both have their place.
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Draupadi and Yudhishthira
Vidura
एकः क्षमावतां दोषो द्वितीयो नोपपद्यते / यदेनं क्षमया युक्तमशक्तं मन्यते जनः सोऽस्य दोषो न मन्तव्यः क्षमा हि परमं बलम् / क्षमा गुणो ह्यशक्तानां शक्तानां भूषणं क्षमा
ekaḥ kṣamāvatāṃ doṣo dvitīyo nopapadyate / yadenaṃ kṣamayā yuktamaśaktaṃ manyate janaḥ so’sya doṣo na mantavyaḥ kṣamā hi paramaṃ balam / kṣamā guṇo hyaśaktānāṃ śaktānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ kṣamā
The forgiving have one fault and no second: people take a forgiving person to be weak. That should not be counted against him, for forgiveness is the greatest strength. In the weak it is a virtue; in the strong it is an ornament.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Brihaspati (retold by Bhishma)
मृदुमप्यवमन्यन्ते तीक्ष्णादुद्विजते जनः / मातीक्ष्णो मा मृदुर्भूस्त्वं तीक्ष्णो भव मृदुर्भव
mṛdumapyavamanyante tīkṣṇādudvijate janaḥ / mātīkṣṇo mā mṛdurbhūstvaṃ tīkṣṇo bhava mṛdurbhava
People look down even on the gentle, and they shrink from the harsh. Do not be only harsh, do not be only soft: be firm when firmness is needed and gentle when gentleness is.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma

Not dwelling on it is the medicine

Mahabharata, Shanti Parva (Narada to Shuka)

Worry
Grief
Discernment

Dwelling on what is lost adds a second sorrow to the first. The medicine for sorrow is not to keep thinking of it. Thought about, sorrow does not leave, it grows. Meet the mind's pain with understanding and the body's with medicine.

Narada
भैषज्यमेतद्दुःखस्य यदेतन्नानुचिन्तयेत् / चिन्त्यमानं हि न व्येति भूयश्चापि प्रवर्धते दुःखोपघाते शारीरे मानसे चाप्युपस्थिते / यस्मिन्न शक्यते कर्तुं यत्नस्तन्नानुचिन्तयेत्
bhaiṣajyametadduḥkhasya yadetannānucintayet / cintyamānaṃ hi na vyeti bhūyaścāpi pravardhate duḥkhopaghāte śārīre mānase cāpyupasthite / yasminna śakyate kartuṃ yatnastannānucintayet
When pain of body or mind arrives and nothing can be done about it, do not keep thinking about it. Not dwelling on it is the medicine for sorrow; brooding does not make it leave, it only makes it grow.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma
Narada
प्रज्ञया मानसं दुःखं हन्याच्छारीरमौषधैः / एतद्विज्ञानमसामर्थ्यं न बालैः समतामियात्
prajñayā mānasaṃ duḥkhaṃ hanyācchārīramauṣadhaiḥ / etadvijñānamasāmarthyaṃ na bālaiḥ samatāmiyāt
Heal the pain of the mind with wisdom and the pain of the body with medicine. That is what knowledge can do; don't behave like a child about it.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Narada
न जानपदिकं दुःखमेकः शोचितुमर्हति / अशोचन्प्रतिकुर्वीत यदि पश्येदुपक्रमम्
na jānapadikaṃ duḥkhamekaḥ śocitumarhati / aśocanpratikurvīta yadi paśyedupakramam
No one should sit alone grieving over a trouble that has struck everyone. Instead of grieving, act to remedy it if you see a way.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

What it heals

The states the texts set it against.

Fear A restless mind A moral dilemma Anger Being wronged Confusion Carelessness Grief

Practices that grow discernment

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Bhartrihari
गुणवदगुणवद्वा कुर्वता कार्यजातं परिणतिरवधार्या यत्नतः पण्डितेन । अतिरभसकृतानां कर्मणामाविपत्ते- र्भवति हृदयदाही शल्यतुल्यो विपाकः ॥
guṇavadaguṇavadvā kurvatā kāryajātaṃ pariṇatiravadhāryā yatnataḥ paṇḍitena | atirabhasakṛtānāṃ karmaṇāmāvipatte- rbhavati hṛdayadāhī śalyatulyo vipākaḥ ||
Whether a task is good or bad, a wise person should first carefully weigh its outcome. The result of deeds done in great haste burns the heart like a thorn until one's dying day.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Bhartrihari
जाड्यं धियो हरति सिञ्चति वाचि सत्यं मानोन्नतिं दिशति पापमपाकरोति । चेतः प्रसादयति दिक्षु तनोति कीर्तिं सत्सङ्गतिः कथय किं न करोति पुंसाम् ॥
jāḍyaṃ dhiyo harati siñcati vāci satyaṃ mānonnatiṃ diśati pāpamapākaroti | cetaḥ prasādayati dikṣu tanoti kīrtiṃ satsaṅgatiḥ kathaya kiṃ na karoti puṃsām ||
Good company takes dullness from the mind, sprinkles truth into speech, raises one's dignity, removes wrongdoing, clears the heart and spreads one's good name in every direction. Tell me, what does good company not do for a person?
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Shows removal of dullness of mind. our reading
Bhartrihari
रे रे चातक सावधानमनसा मित्र क्षणं श्रूयताम् अम्भोदा बहवो वसन्ति गगने सर्वेऽपि नैकादृशाः । केचिद्वृष्टिभिरार्द्रयन्ति धरणीं गर्जन्ति केचिद्वृथा यं यं पश्यसि तस्य तस्य पुरतो मा ब्रूहि दीनं वचः ॥
re re cātaka sāvadhānamanasā mitra kṣaṇaṃ śrūyatām ambhodā bahavo vasanti gagane sarve’pi naikādṛśāḥ | kecidvṛṣṭibhirārdrayanti dharaṇīṃ garjanti kecidvṛthā yaṃ yaṃ paśyasi tasya tasya purato mā brūhi dīnaṃ vacaḥ ||
Friend chataka, listen carefully for a moment. Many clouds live in the sky, but not all are alike. Some drench the earth with rain; some only thunder for nothing. Do not speak pleading words before every cloud you see.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Names tell the giver from the thunderer. our reading
Gautama (retold by Bhishma)
चिरेण मित्रं बध्नीयाच्चिरेण च कृतं त्यजेत् / चिरेण हि कृतं मित्रं चिरं धारणमर्हति
cireṇa mitraṃ badhnīyāccireṇa ca kṛtaṃ tyajet / cireṇa hi kṛtaṃ mitraṃ ciraṃ dhāraṇamarhati
Make a friend slowly, and give one up slowly. A friendship made slowly is one that lasts long.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Take time before binding or breaking a bond. our reading
Narada
प्रज्ञया मानसं दुःखं हन्याच्छारीरमौषधैः / एतद्विज्ञानमसामर्थ्यं न बालैः समतामियात्
prajñayā mānasaṃ duḥkhaṃ hanyācchārīramauṣadhaiḥ / etadvijñānamasāmarthyaṃ na bālaiḥ samatāmiyāt
Heal the pain of the mind with wisdom and the pain of the body with medicine. That is what knowledge can do; don't behave like a child about it.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Brihaspati
न तत्परस्य संदध्यात्प्रतिकूलं यदात्मनः / एष साङ्ग्राहिको धर्मः कामादन्यः प्रवर्तते
na tatparasya saṃdadhyātpratikūlaṃ yadātmanaḥ / eṣa sāṅgrāhiko dharmaḥ kāmādanyaḥ pravartate
Do not do to another what you would find hurtful yourself. This, in short, is dharma; anything else comes from desire.
Mahabharata · Anushasana Parva · Anushasana
Dharma compressed to one question. our reading
Shiva
जदपि मित्र प्रभु पितु गुर गेहा। जाइअ बिनु बोलेहुँ न सँदेहा॥ तदपि बिरोध मान जहँ कोई। तहाँ गएँ कल्यानु न होई ॥
jadapi mitra prabhu pitu gur gehā| jāia binu bolehuṁ na saṁdehā|| tadapi birodh mān jahaṁ koī| tahāṁ gaeṁ kalyānu na hoī ||
It is true that one may go uninvited to the home of a friend, a master, a father or a teacher. Yet where someone holds hostility toward you, no good comes of going there.
Ramcharitmanas · Bal Kand
Shows custom allows the visit, judgement looks at the host's heart. our reading
Guha
सुनि गुह कहइ नीक कह बूढ़ा। सहसा करि पछिताहिं बिमूढ़ा॥ भरत सुभाउ सीलु बिनु बूझें। बड़ि हित हानि जानि बिनु जूझें ॥
suni guh kahai nīk kah būṛhā| sahasā kari pachitāhiṃ bimūṛhā|| bharat subhāu sīlu binu būjheṃ| baṛi hit hāni jāni binu jūjheṃ ||
Guha said, 'The old man speaks well. Fools act in haste and repent. To fight without knowing Bharat's character and nature would do great harm to our own good.'
Ramcharitmanas · Ayodhya Kand
Shows him stopping, listening to an elder, checking first. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures came to this, and the story shows how.

From the Gita
Restraining desire
Arjuna asks why we do wrong as if forced. Krishna names desire, which turns into anger, as the enemy that clouds wisdom like smoke over fire, and tells him to master it.
Desire unmet becomes anger; see it clearly and you can master it.
From the Other Gitas
Janaka asks the boy-sage how to be free
King Janaka, ruler of Mithila, asks the young sage Ashtavakra three questions: how to gain wisdom, freedom and dispassion. Ashtavakra answers at once: you are not the body or your roles but the awareness that watches them, and freedom is available now.
You are more than your roles and worries; freedom starts with how you see yourself.
From the Mahabharata
Vyadha Gita: the butcher who taught a sage
A proud ascetic, Kaushika, is sent to learn from a meat-seller in Mithila. The butcher teaches him plain goodness: don't return evil, repent and resolve, keep envy away, care for your parents, and don't spend your one life making enemies.
Wisdom lives in ordinary people doing ordinary work honestly. Care for your parents.
From the Mahabharata
Vidura Niti: the wise and the fool
Sleepless before the peace talks, King Dhritarashtra calls his half-brother Vidura for counsel. Vidura describes the marks of the wise and the fool, the faults that block progress, and the six joys of life.
Decide calmly, act steadily, forgive freely, and know what real happiness is made of.

Is this where you are?

Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.

Nearby on the map

See discernment on the whole map

Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for discernment?

Viveka (विवेक). Discernment.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about discernment?

Bhagavad Gita 18.30: The understanding that knows action and withdrawal, what should and should not be done, what is to be feared and what not, bondage and freedom, that understanding is sattvic, Partha.

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.