Chapter 12Verse 17 of 20

Bhagavad Gita 12.17

यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति | शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः ||

yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati | śubhāśubha-parityāgī bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||

Translation

He who neither rejoices nor hates nor grieves nor desires, who has given up both good and evil, who is full of devotion, is dear to me.

Four denials and one positive. Na hrishyati, does not exult. Na dveshti, does not hate. Na shochati, does not grieve. Na kankshati, does not crave. The four standard movements of the reactive mind are named and the devotee is free of them. Then the larger renunciation. Shubha-ashubha-parityagi, abandoning the auspicious and the inauspicious. The devotee does not chase the good and flee the bad. He stands in the relation that does not require sorting events. Then the positive. Bhaktiman, full of devotion. The negations have not produced a flat indifference. The positive content is bhakti. The closing refrain returns. The portrait has reached its center. The devotee is not a person without emotion. He is a person whose emotional center has moved.

Reflection

Which of the four reactive movements has held you most often this week?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Twelve

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