Q. 194.WHO IS VERY DEAR TO LORD KRISHNA ? A. part 3
A. BY SRILA PRABHUPADA.
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca
tathā mānāpamānayoḥ
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu
samaḥ sańga-vivarjitaḥ
tulya-nindā-stutir maunī
santuṣṭo yena kenacit
aniketaḥ sthira-matir
bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ
SYNONYMS
samaḥ — equal; śatrau — to an enemy; ca — also; mitre — to a friend; ca — also; tathā — so; māna — in honor; apamānayoḥ — and dishonor; śīta — in cold;uṣṇa — heat; sukha — happiness; duḥkheṣu — and distress; samaḥ — equipoised; sańga-vivarjitaḥ — free from all association; tulya — equal; nindā — indefamation; stutiḥ — and repute; maunī — silent; santuṣṭaḥ — satisfied; yena kenacit — with anything; aniketaḥ — having no residence; sthira — fixed; matiḥ— determination; bhakti-mān — engaged in devotion; me — to Me; priyaḥ — dear; naraḥ — a man.
TRANSLATION
One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honour and dishonour, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn't care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service — such a person is very dear to Me. (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
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 for the sake of the Supreme Lord.
A devotee 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 emphasize the fact that a devotee must acquire all these qualifications. Without good qualifications, one cannot be a pure devotee. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ: 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 endeavour to acquire these qualifications, but engagement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service automatically helps him develop them.
ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaḿ
yathoktaḿ paryupāsate
śraddadhānā mat-paramā
bhaktās te 'tīva me priyāḥ
SYNONYMS
ye — those who; tu — but; dharma — of religion; amṛtam — nectar; idam — this; yathā — as; uktam — said; paryupāsate — completely engage;śraddadhānāḥ — with faith; mat-paramāḥ — taking Me, the Supreme Lord, as everything; bhaktāḥ — devotees; te — they; atīva — very, very; me — to Me;priyāḥ — dear.
TRANSLATION
Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me. (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
PURPORT
In this chapter, from verse 2 through the end — from mayy āveśya mano ye mām ("fixing the mind on Me") through ye tu dharmāmṛtam idam ("this religion of eternal engagement") — the Supreme Lord has explained the processes of transcendental service for approaching Him. Such processes are very dear to the Lord, and He accepts a person engaged in them.
The question of 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.
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