Bg 12.15
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ
Bg 12.16
anapekṣaḥ śucir dakṣa udāsīno gata-vyathaḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ
Translation
15. He by whom the world is not agitated (affected) , and who cannot be agitated by the world, who is freed from joy, envy, fear, and anxiety --- he is dear to me.
16. He who is free from wants, pure, alert, unconcerned, untroubled, renouncing all undertakings (or commencements) --- he who is (thus) devoted to Me, is dear to Me.
Commentary
This stanza constitutes the SECOND SECTION in which again Lord Krishna enumerates three more characteristic features of a real devotee.
"HE BY WHOM THE WORLD IS NOT AGITATED" --- A Man-of-Perfection is one who will not create any agitations in the world around him. Where the Sun is, there cannot be any darkness, where the peaceful Master of Equanimity and Perfection dwells, he, by the intrinsic divinity in him, creates, as it were, an atmosphere of serene joy and endless peace around him; and even those, who are agitated in the world, will suffer no more from such agitations when they approach such a master-mind, and enjoy a peace in themselves. In fact, the world irresistibly rushes to such a saint to bask in his brilliance and comes to experience the joy which he wafts all around him!
"WHO CANNOT BE AGITATED BY THE WORLD" --- Not only does a Man-of-Perfection quieten the very world around him, into a dynamic peace, but also the world, however chaotic, revolting, boisterous, and vengeful it may be, cannot create any agitations in him. The world-of-objects will almost always be in a state of flux, and its maddening death-dance cannot bring even a whiff of its storms to disturb the calm serenity of the saint. He is made of stronger mettle and his life is built upon surer foundations.
The floating reeds dance on the surface of the sea but the light-house that is built on the rocks beneath stands erect and motionless, watching the smooth sea turning rough with the rise of the tidal waves. The personality of a perfect-man is rooted in his realisation of the deeper substratum of life; and, since he is not attached to the superficial conditions of matter and its playful magic, any amount of wild agitations outside cannot bring any disturbance to his inner equipoise. In and through the battling circumstances, he perceives the changeless ground --- he hears the harmony that runs through the various discordant notes in life around.
"HE IS COMPLETELY FREED FROM" all the usual causes for inward agitations such as "JOY, ENVY, FEAR AND ANXIETY." A devotee of this type, ever peaceful with himself and the world, who rules over the circumstances and never yields to be victimised by them, who has crossed over the usual weaknesses of the mortal heart --- such a devotee "IS DEAR TO ME."
CONTINUING THE SAME TOPIC THE LORD DECLARES:
This stanza represents the THIRD SECTION, which throws more light upon the picture of the perfect-devotee as conceived by the Lord Himself. Already in the above two sections, fourteen indications were given and to that total picture are added in this section six subtler items.
" FREE FROM DEPENDENCE " (Anapekshah) --- A true devotee no more depends upon either the objects of the world outside, or their pattern, or their relationships with himself. An ordinary man discovers his peace and joy only in the world-of-objects available for him, their conditions, and their arrangements around him. When the right type of object is in the right pattern courting him favourably, a man of the world feels temporarily thrilled and joyous. But a real devotee is completely independent of the world outside and he draws his inspiration, equanimity and joyous ecstasy from a source, deep within himself.
"WHO IS PURE" (Shuchih) --- Dirt has no place anywhere within or without a true devotee. One who is aspiring to reach perfection will necessarily be so well-disciplined physically that he will be clean not only in his relationship with others but even in the very condition and arrangement of his belongings around him. It is very well known that the condition of a man's table or shelf, and the cleanliness of his apparel, can give a great insight into the mental nature, discipline and culture of that man. Great emphasis has been laid in India on this physical purity, not only in the person of the man but also of his contacts in the world. Without external purity, internal purification will be but a vague dream, an idle hope, a despairing vision.
"ALERT" (Dakshah) --- To be alert always becomes the second nature of an integrated person. Enthusiasm is the key to success in any undertaking. A dynamic person is not one who slips in his behaviour or action. He is mentally agile and intellectually vigorous. Since there is no dissipation in him, he is ever on his toes to spring forward to activity, once he determines to shoulder any endeavour. If we observe the degree of idleness, carelessness, and ugliness in execution of any work, from which all religious persons are suffering, we can understand how far Hinduism has wandered away from its pristine glory!
UNCONCERNED (Udaseenah) --- It is not difficult for one to observe many devotees in this land who have resigned themselves to a state of unexpressed sorrow, because they have been cheated by others, ill-treated by society, and persecuted by the community. The foolish devotees think that they will be unconcerned about these outrages practiced on them and then their own devotion for the Lord must prove to themselves a wretched liability, rather than a positive gain! Philosophy misunderstood can easily end in the suicide of the community.
The "unconcerned attitude" is only meant here to economise our mental energies. In human life, small difficulties, simple illnesses, discomforts, wants etc., are but natural. To exaggerate their importance and strive to escape from them all is to enter into a life-long struggle of adjustments. In all such instances, the student is warned not to squander away his mental energies but to conserve them by overlooking these little pin-pricks of life in an attitude of utter indifference towards them.
FREE FROM TREMBLING --- The inward tremors are experienced only when any burning desire has conquered us completely. Once victimised by a desire or fascination for an object, the individual personality becomes tremulous in fear that its desire may not be fulfilled. A true seeker is one, who never allows the inner person in him to enter into any such fears or agitations.
RENOUNCING EVERY UNDERTAKING --- In Sanskrit "Aarambha" means "beginning." "To end all beginnings," does not mean "not to undertake anything." This literal translation has made the majority of Hindus incompetent idlers and our religion has been criticized as glorifying idleness as a divine ideal! The deeper suggestions are overlooked. To perceive any definite beginning in an undertaking, the individual actor must have a solid and gross egoistic claim that he had begun it himself. He must have the strong feeling that he is beginning an activity, for the purpose of gaining a definite goal, whereby he will be fulfilling a specific desire of his, or will thereby be gaining a positive profit. One who is a seeker of the Divine, striving to reach the higher cultural perfections, must renounce this egoistic sense of self-importance and work on in the world.
No undertaking in our life, in fact, is a new act that has an independent beginning or end. All actions in the world are in an eternal pattern of the total world-movements. If correctly analysed, our undertakings are controlled, regulated, governed and ordered by the available world-of-things and situations. Apart from them all, no independent action is undertaken, or can be fulfilled by anyone. A devotee of Truth is ever conscious of this oneness of the Universe, and therefore, he will always work in the world only as AN INSTRUMENT OF THE LORD and not as an independent agent in the undertaking.
Such a devotee who possesses all the six qualifications enumerated above "IS DEAR TO ME."
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ
Bg 12.16
anapekṣaḥ śucir dakṣa udāsīno gata-vyathaḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ
Translation
15. He by whom the world is not agitated (affected) , and who cannot be agitated by the world, who is freed from joy, envy, fear, and anxiety --- he is dear to me.
16. He who is free from wants, pure, alert, unconcerned, untroubled, renouncing all undertakings (or commencements) --- he who is (thus) devoted to Me, is dear to Me.
Commentary
This stanza constitutes the SECOND SECTION in which again Lord Krishna enumerates three more characteristic features of a real devotee.
"HE BY WHOM THE WORLD IS NOT AGITATED" --- A Man-of-Perfection is one who will not create any agitations in the world around him. Where the Sun is, there cannot be any darkness, where the peaceful Master of Equanimity and Perfection dwells, he, by the intrinsic divinity in him, creates, as it were, an atmosphere of serene joy and endless peace around him; and even those, who are agitated in the world, will suffer no more from such agitations when they approach such a master-mind, and enjoy a peace in themselves. In fact, the world irresistibly rushes to such a saint to bask in his brilliance and comes to experience the joy which he wafts all around him!
"WHO CANNOT BE AGITATED BY THE WORLD" --- Not only does a Man-of-Perfection quieten the very world around him, into a dynamic peace, but also the world, however chaotic, revolting, boisterous, and vengeful it may be, cannot create any agitations in him. The world-of-objects will almost always be in a state of flux, and its maddening death-dance cannot bring even a whiff of its storms to disturb the calm serenity of the saint. He is made of stronger mettle and his life is built upon surer foundations.
The floating reeds dance on the surface of the sea but the light-house that is built on the rocks beneath stands erect and motionless, watching the smooth sea turning rough with the rise of the tidal waves. The personality of a perfect-man is rooted in his realisation of the deeper substratum of life; and, since he is not attached to the superficial conditions of matter and its playful magic, any amount of wild agitations outside cannot bring any disturbance to his inner equipoise. In and through the battling circumstances, he perceives the changeless ground --- he hears the harmony that runs through the various discordant notes in life around.
"HE IS COMPLETELY FREED FROM" all the usual causes for inward agitations such as "JOY, ENVY, FEAR AND ANXIETY." A devotee of this type, ever peaceful with himself and the world, who rules over the circumstances and never yields to be victimised by them, who has crossed over the usual weaknesses of the mortal heart --- such a devotee "IS DEAR TO ME."
CONTINUING THE SAME TOPIC THE LORD DECLARES:
This stanza represents the THIRD SECTION, which throws more light upon the picture of the perfect-devotee as conceived by the Lord Himself. Already in the above two sections, fourteen indications were given and to that total picture are added in this section six subtler items.
" FREE FROM DEPENDENCE " (Anapekshah) --- A true devotee no more depends upon either the objects of the world outside, or their pattern, or their relationships with himself. An ordinary man discovers his peace and joy only in the world-of-objects available for him, their conditions, and their arrangements around him. When the right type of object is in the right pattern courting him favourably, a man of the world feels temporarily thrilled and joyous. But a real devotee is completely independent of the world outside and he draws his inspiration, equanimity and joyous ecstasy from a source, deep within himself.
"WHO IS PURE" (Shuchih) --- Dirt has no place anywhere within or without a true devotee. One who is aspiring to reach perfection will necessarily be so well-disciplined physically that he will be clean not only in his relationship with others but even in the very condition and arrangement of his belongings around him. It is very well known that the condition of a man's table or shelf, and the cleanliness of his apparel, can give a great insight into the mental nature, discipline and culture of that man. Great emphasis has been laid in India on this physical purity, not only in the person of the man but also of his contacts in the world. Without external purity, internal purification will be but a vague dream, an idle hope, a despairing vision.
"ALERT" (Dakshah) --- To be alert always becomes the second nature of an integrated person. Enthusiasm is the key to success in any undertaking. A dynamic person is not one who slips in his behaviour or action. He is mentally agile and intellectually vigorous. Since there is no dissipation in him, he is ever on his toes to spring forward to activity, once he determines to shoulder any endeavour. If we observe the degree of idleness, carelessness, and ugliness in execution of any work, from which all religious persons are suffering, we can understand how far Hinduism has wandered away from its pristine glory!
UNCONCERNED (Udaseenah) --- It is not difficult for one to observe many devotees in this land who have resigned themselves to a state of unexpressed sorrow, because they have been cheated by others, ill-treated by society, and persecuted by the community. The foolish devotees think that they will be unconcerned about these outrages practiced on them and then their own devotion for the Lord must prove to themselves a wretched liability, rather than a positive gain! Philosophy misunderstood can easily end in the suicide of the community.
The "unconcerned attitude" is only meant here to economise our mental energies. In human life, small difficulties, simple illnesses, discomforts, wants etc., are but natural. To exaggerate their importance and strive to escape from them all is to enter into a life-long struggle of adjustments. In all such instances, the student is warned not to squander away his mental energies but to conserve them by overlooking these little pin-pricks of life in an attitude of utter indifference towards them.
FREE FROM TREMBLING --- The inward tremors are experienced only when any burning desire has conquered us completely. Once victimised by a desire or fascination for an object, the individual personality becomes tremulous in fear that its desire may not be fulfilled. A true seeker is one, who never allows the inner person in him to enter into any such fears or agitations.
RENOUNCING EVERY UNDERTAKING --- In Sanskrit "Aarambha" means "beginning." "To end all beginnings," does not mean "not to undertake anything." This literal translation has made the majority of Hindus incompetent idlers and our religion has been criticized as glorifying idleness as a divine ideal! The deeper suggestions are overlooked. To perceive any definite beginning in an undertaking, the individual actor must have a solid and gross egoistic claim that he had begun it himself. He must have the strong feeling that he is beginning an activity, for the purpose of gaining a definite goal, whereby he will be fulfilling a specific desire of his, or will thereby be gaining a positive profit. One who is a seeker of the Divine, striving to reach the higher cultural perfections, must renounce this egoistic sense of self-importance and work on in the world.
No undertaking in our life, in fact, is a new act that has an independent beginning or end. All actions in the world are in an eternal pattern of the total world-movements. If correctly analysed, our undertakings are controlled, regulated, governed and ordered by the available world-of-things and situations. Apart from them all, no independent action is undertaken, or can be fulfilled by anyone. A devotee of Truth is ever conscious of this oneness of the Universe, and therefore, he will always work in the world only as AN INSTRUMENT OF THE LORD and not as an independent agent in the undertaking.
Such a devotee who possesses all the six qualifications enumerated above "IS DEAR TO ME."
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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