โศลก 13.913.113.213.313.413.513.613.713.813.913.1013.1113.1213.1313.1413.1513.1613.1713.1813.1913.2013.2113.2213.2313.2413.2513.2613.2713.2813.2913.3013.3113.3213.3313.3413.35

Indifference to the objects of the senses and also absence of egoism; perception of (or reflection on) the evil in birth, death, old age, sickness and pain.

dispassion toward the objects of the senses, absence of the sense of I, and seeing clearly the evil of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain;

The list of qualities that make up knowledge continues. Krishna names detachment from sense objects and freedom from the ego, the sense of I. He then adds a practice of reflection: seeing repeatedly the trouble inherent in birth, death, ageing, illness and suffering. This is not meant as gloom but as honesty about the conditions of embodied life. Many traditions in India have used such reflection to loosen the hold of craving. For Arjuna, troubled by death on the battlefield, the verse suggests that clear sight of mortality is itself part of wisdom.