Equanimity in success and failure is highlighted because it transforms the very basis of action. When one acts with a steady mind, without clinging to the hope of success or the fear of failure, action flows from dharma rather than from personal craving or aversion. Such action is described as karma-yoga: one has a right to action itself, but not to the fruits of action. In this way, work ceases to be a means of self-aggrandizement and becomes an offering aligned with a higher order. The same attitude prevents the mind from being tossed about by gain and loss, victory and defeat, and thus preserves inner stability amidst outer change.

This even-mindedness also weakens the ego and the attachments that bind consciousness to the cycle of karma. Joy in success and despair in failure both arise from identification with “I” and “mine,” and from the deep-seated habit of measuring worth by outcomes. By remaining the same in pleasure and pain, gain and loss, one loosens these identifications and begins to transcend the dualities that define worldly experience. Krishna explicitly names such balance as yoga itself, indicating that equanimity is not a side effect but the very heart of spiritual discipline. In this balanced state, the mind is no longer driven by reactive emotions and is less likely to generate new binding impressions.

A mind grounded in equanimity becomes fit for knowledge and effective in action. When not agitated by likes and dislikes, it can see situations more clearly and respond with wisdom rather than impulse. This clarity supports the recognition of the Self as unborn, undying, and untouched by changing events, a reality that stands apart from the fluctuations of success and failure. To live with equanimity is therefore to live more and more from that deeper identity, rather than from the shifting fortunes of the personality. In this sense, equanimity both reflects and prepares the way for liberation, allowing one to move through the world with inner freedom even while fully engaged in action.