Chapter 12. Devotional
Service
TEXT 18-19
samah satrau ca mitre ca
tatha manapamanayoh
sitosna-sukha-duhkhesu
samah sanga-vivarjitah
tulya-ninda-stutir mauni
santusto yena kenacit
aniketah sthira-matir
bhaktiman me priyo narah
SYNONYMS
samah--equal;
satrau--to the enemy; ca--also; mitre--to friends;
ca--also; tatha--so; mana--honor; apamanayoh--dishonor;
sita--cold; usna--heat; sukha--happiness; duhkhesu--distress;
samah--equipoised; sanga-vivarjitah--free from all association;
tulya--equal; ninda--defamation; stutih--repute; mauni--silent;
santustah--satisfied; yena--somehow; kena--or other;
cit--if; aniketah--having no residence; sthira--fixed;
matih--determination; bhakti-man--engaged in devotion; me--My;
priyah--dear; narah--a man.
TRANSLATION
One who is
equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised 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 Krsna;
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. O ne 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 Krsna consciousness and devotional service automatically
help him develop them.
![Previous Verse](prev.gif) ![Chapter Index](contents.gif) ![Next Verse](next.gif)
|