1 Gita Sloka Every Day - Chapter 12 - Bhakti Yoga - Sloka 15

The entire content of this mail is from Swami Chidbhavananda's translation of Bhagavad Gita  published by Ramakrishna Mission

The Devotees Divine Traits 13-20

1 Gita Sloka  Every Day - Chapter 12 - Bhakti Yoga - Sloka 15

Rama Sita & Lakshaman at Chitrakoot

Yasmat na udvijate lokah lokat na udvijate cha yah I

Harsha amarsha bhaya udvegaih muchatah yah sah cha me priyah II sloka 15

यस्मात्  न अद्विजते लोकः लोकात् न उद्विजते च यः I

हर्ष अमर्ष भय उद्वेगैः मुचतः यः सः च मे प्रियः II श्लोक 15  

He by whom the world is not afflicted and whom the world can not afflict, he who is free from joy, anger, fear and anxiety - he is dear to Me. 

The life of a devotee causes harm to nobody in the world. Directly or indirectly, everything good emanates from his life  and nothing evil. Some of his doing may sometimes seem painful to others; but even in such actions intrinsic good alone prevails.What the surgeon does to the patient and the teacher to the pupil may appear hurtful; but in effect they are wholesome. A devotee in the position of Arjuna is obliged to bring about carnage.But ultimate good to the world is contained in that seeming evil. Again whatever harm befalls a devotee from the world  is not viewed by him as an injury.Sterling is his mind which accepts all afflictions as blessings in disguise come from the Most High. The more the affliction, the greater is the devotee's delightful submission to the will of the Lord. Prahalada is the model of the super devotee.

What is the sort of self culture that brings forth this genuine frame of mind of the devotee? The rest of this stanza gives the answer to this question. One should not feel joyous  when one comes at things pleasant; for, that mind which is a victim of joy is also a potential victim of misery. A strong mind, on the other hand, remains unaffected by joy and sorrow. A devotee is he who conquers anger and envy which are his twin enemies. Every time he is overcome by either of these, the stamina of his mind declines. The wind of  anger or envy may toss the creeper of the mind of the ordinary man; but the mind of the devotee stands like a stalwart tree, unperturbed by it. He is too strong to be affected by such petty feelings. Fear is worse than death, which can only rob man of his body; whereas the former wrecks the entire personality. The frightened man is a heap of empty sensation; nothing worthy emanates from him. The devotee knows no fear and so divinity beams out of him. Anxiety is another mental disease  which eats into the stamina of  man. The devotee takes all the happenings as divine dispensation and there is nothing to be disturbed about. The devotee who is made of such sterling qualities is claimed by the Lord as His own. 

That man wastes his own time and energy who always engages himself in recounting the worth of the others. For, in doing so, he neither gains in building his own character nor in getting fixed in the glory of the Lord

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa