BG 12.18-19 (1972)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXTS 18-19
- समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः ।
- शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥१८॥
- तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।
- अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ॥१९॥
- samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca
- tathā mānāpamānayoḥ
- śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu
- samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ
- tulya-nindā-stutir maunī
- 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.