Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (92 page)

Bg 12.15

TEXT 15

TEXT

yasmān nodvijate loko

lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ

harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair

mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ

SYNONYMS

yasmāt-
from whom;
na-
never;
udvijate-
agītātes;
lokaḥ-
persons;
lokāt-
persons;
na-
never;
advijate
-disturbed;
ca
-also;
yaḥ
-anyone;
harṣa
-happiness;
amarṣa
-distress;
bhaya-
fearfulness;
udvegaiḥ-
with anxiety;
muktaḥ
-freed;
yaḥ
-who;
saḥ
-anyone;
ca-
also;
me
-My;
priyaḥ-
very dear.

TRANSLATION

He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not dirturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me.

PURPORT

A few of a devotee's qualifications are further being described. No one is put into difficulty, anxiety, fearfulness, or dissatisfaction by such a devotee. Since a devotee is kind to everyone, he does not act in such a way to put others into anxiety. At the same time, if others try to put a devotee into anxiety, he is not disturbed. It is by the grace of the Lord that he is so practiced that he is not disturbed by any outward disturbance. Actually because a devotee is always engrossed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engaged in devotional service, all such material circumstances cannot woo him. Generally a materialistic person becomes very happy when there is something for his sense gratification and his body, but when he sees that others have something for their sense gratification and he hasn't, he is sorry and envious. When he is expecting some retaliation from an enemy, he is in a state of fear, and when he cannot successfully execute something he becomes dejected. But a devotee is always transcendental to all these disturbances; therefore he is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 12.16

TEXT 16

TEXT

anapekṣaḥ śucir dakṣa

udāsīno gata-vyathaḥ

sarvārambha-parityāgī

yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ

SYNONYMS

anapekṣaḥ-
neutral;
śuciḥ-
pure;
dakṣaḥ-
expert;
udāsīnaḥ
-free from care;
gata-vyathaḥ
-freed from all distress;
sarva-ārambha-
all endeavors;
parityāgī
-renouncer;
yaḥ
-anyone;
mat-bhaktaḥ-
My devotee;
saḥ-
he;
me
-Me;
priyaḥ
-very dear

TRANSLATION

A devotee who is not dependant on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and who does not strive for some result, is very dear to Me.

PURPORT

Money may be offered to a devotee, but he should not struggle to acquire it. If automatically, by the grace of the Supreme, money comes to him, he is not agītāted. Naturally a devotee takes bath at least twice in a day and rises early in the morning for devotional service. Thus he is naturally clean both inwardly and outwardly. A devotee is always expert because he fully knows the sense of all activities of life, and he is convinced of the authoritative scriptures. A devotee never takes the part of a particular party; therefore he is carefree. He is never pained because he is free from all designations; he knows that his body is a designation, so if there are some bodily pains, he is free. The pure devotee does not endeavor for anything which is against the principles of devotional service. For example, constructing a big building requires great energy, and a devotee does not take to such business if it does not benefit him by advancing his devotional service. He may construct a temple for the Lord, and for that he may take all kinds of anxiety, but he does not construct a big house for his personal relations.

Bg 12.17

TEXT 17

TEXT

yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

śubhāśubha-parityāgī

bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ

SYNONYMS

yaḥ
-one who:
na-
never;
hṛṣyati-
takes pleasure;
na-
never;
dveṣṭi-
grieves;
na-
never;
śocati-
laments;
na-
never;
kāṅkṣati-
desires;
śubha-
auspicious;
aśubha-
inauspicious;
parityāgī-
renouncer;
bhaktimān-
devotee;
yaḥ
-one who;
saḥ-
he is;
me-
My;
priyaḥ-
dear.

TRANSLATION

One who neither grasps pleasure or grief, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things, is very dear to Me.

PURPORT

A pure devotee is neither happy nor distressed over material gain and loss, nor is he very much anxious to get a son or disciple, nor is he distressed by not getting them. If he loses anything which is very dear to him, he does not lament. Similarly, if he does not get what he desires, he is not distressed. He is transcendental in the face of all kinds of auspicious, inauspicious and sinful activities. He is prepared to accept all kinds of risks for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Nothing is an impediment in the discharge of his devotional service. Such a devotee is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.

Bg 12.18, Bg 12.19, Bg 12.18-19

TEXTS 18-19

TEXT

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca

tathā mānāpamānayoḥ

śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu

samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ

santuṣṭo yena kenacit

aniketaḥ sthira-matir

bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ

SYNONYMS

samaḥ-
equal;
śatrau
-to the enemy;
ca
-also;
mitre
-to friends;
ca
-also;
tatha
-so;
māna
-honor;
apamānayoḥ-
dishonor;
śīta
-cold;
uṣṇa
-heat;
sukha-
happiness;
duḥkheṣu-
distress;
samaḥ-
equiposed;
saṅga-vivarjitaḥ-
free from all association;
tulya
-equal;
nindā
-defamation;
stutiḥ-
repute;
maunī
-silent;
santuṣṭaḥ
-satisfied;
yena
-somehow;
kena-
or other;
cit
-if;
aniketaḥ-
having no residence;
sthira-
fixed;
matiḥ
-determination;
bhaktimān-
engaged in devotion;
me
-My;
priyaḥ
-dear;
naraḥ
-a man.

TRANSLATION

One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equiposed in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contamination, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn't care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and engaged in devotional service, is very dear to Me.

PURPORT

A devotee is always free from all bad association. Sometimes one is praised and sometimes one is defamed; that is the nature of human society. But a devotee is always transcendental to artificial fame and infamy, distress or happiness. He is very patient. He does not speak of anything but the topics about Kṛṣṇa; therefore he is called silent. Silent does not mean that one should not speak; silent means that one should not speak nonsense. One should speak only of essentials, and the most essential speech for the devotee is to speak of the Supreme Lord. He is happy in all conditions; sometimes he may get very palatable foodstuffs, sometimes not, but he is satisfied. Nor does he care for any residential facility. He may sometimes live underneath a tree, and he may sometimes live in a very palatial building; he is attracted to neither. He is called fixed because he is fixed in his determination and knowledge. We may find some repetition in the descriptions of the qualifications of a devotee, but this is just to give an illustration of the fact that a devotee must acquire all these qualifications. Without good qualifications, one cannot be a pure devotee. One who is not a devotee has no good qualification. One who wants to be recognized as a devotee should develop the good qualifications. Of course he does not extraneously endeavor to acquire these qualifications, but engagement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service automatically helps him develop them.

Bg 12.20

TEXT 20

TEXT

ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaṁ

yathoktaṁ paryupāsate

śraddadhānā mat-paramā

bhaktās te 'tīva me priyāḥ

SYNONYMS

ye
-one who;
tu
-but;
dharmya-
generosity;
amṛtam
-understanding;
idam
-this;
yathā
-as;
uktam
-said;
paryupāsate
-completely engages;
sraddadhānāḥ-
with faith;
mat-paramāḥ
-taking the Supreme Lord as everything;
bhaktāḥ-
devotees;
te
-such persons;
atīva
-very, very;
me
-Me;
priyāḥ-
dear.

TRANSLATION

He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me.

PURPORT

In this chapter the religion of eternal engagement, the explanation of the process of transcendental service for approaching the Supreme Lord, is given. This process is very dear to the Lord, and He accepts a person who is
engaged in such a process. The question who is better-one who is engaged in the path of impersonal Brahman or one who is engaged in the personal service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead-was raised by Arjuna, and the Lord replied to him so explicitly that there is no doubt that devotional service to the Personality of Godhead is the best of all processes of spiritual realization. In other words, in this chapter it is decided that through good association, one develops attachment for pure devotional service and thereby accepts a bona fide spiritual master and from him begins to hear and chant and observe the regulative principles of devotional service with faith, attachment and devotion and thus becomes engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. This path is recommended in this chapter; therefore there is no doubt that devotional service is the only absolute path for self-realization, for the attainment of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The impersonal conception of the Supreme Absolute Truth, as described in this chapter, is recommended only up to the time one surrenders himself for self-realization. In other words, as long as one does not have the chance to associate with a pure devotee, the impersonal conception may be beneficial. In the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth one works without fruitive result, meditates and cultivates knowledge to understand spirit and matter. This is necessary as long as one is not in the association of a pure devotee. Fortunately, if one develops directly a desire to engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in pure devotional service, he does not need to undergo step by step improvements in spiritual realization. Devotional service, as described in the middle six chapters of
Bhagavad-gītā,
is more congenial. One need not bother about materials to keep body and soul together because by the grace of the Lord everything is carried out automatically.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Twelfth Chapter of the
Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā
in the matter of Devotional Service.

Bg 13: Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

13. Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

Bg 13.1, Bg 13.2, Bg 13.1-2

TEXTS 1-2

TEXT

arjuna uvāca

prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva

kṣetraṁ kṣetra-jñam eva ca

etad veditum icchāmi

jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava

idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya

kṣetram ity abhidhīyate

etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ

kṣetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ

SYNONYMS

arjunaḥ uvāca
-Arjuna said;
prakṛtim-
nature;
puruṣam-
the enjoyer;
ca-
also;
eva-
certainly;
kṣetram-
body;
kṣetrajñam-
knower of the body;
eva-
certainly;
ca-
also;
etat
-all this;
veditum-
to understand;
icchāmi-
I wish;
jñānam
-knowledge;
jñeyam-
the object of knowledge;
ca-
also;
keśava
-O Kṛṣṇa;
śrī bhagavān uvāca-
the Personality of Godhead said;
idam-
this;
śarīram-
body;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
kṣetram-
the field;
iti-
thus;
abhidhīyate-
is
called;
etat-
this;
yaḥ
-anyone;
vetti-
knows;
tam-
him;
prāhuḥ-
is
called;
kṣetrajñaḥ-
knower of the body;
iti-
thus;
tat-vidaḥ-
one who knows.

TRANSLATION

Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti [nature], Puruṣa [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the end of knowledge. The Blessed Lord then said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.