Gita Series – 128: Bhagavad Gita Chapter XII. Verse 13 – 16

“He who does not hate anyone, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who does not change with pleasure or pain, who is forgiving by nature, who always remains contended, who has mentally united with Me, who has subdued his mind, senses and body, who has a firm resolve and has surrendered his mind and reasoning to Me, who always stays calm and unconcerned with circumstances, who is devoid of fear, who needs nothing, who is pure in thoughts and actions, who is devoid of distractions, who is devoid of egoistic attitude, that devotee is dear to Me.”

Krishna begins to elaborate the qualities of a devotee. Hatred is the biggest enemy of mankind that leaves lasting impressions. Swami Vivekananda said, “Every thought of hatred which you may have thought, even inside a cave, is stored up and will one day come back to you with tremendous power in the form of some misery.” When hatred is shed, friendliness and compassion follow automatically. This leads to the ultimate level of understanding, that the whole universe is nothing but the manifestation of the Lord. Hatred is like a poison that ultimately kills a person. Hatred causes huge mental affliction and makes the mind totally maculate. An impure mind cannot stay connected with the Lord, like fire and water, purity and impurity cannot stay together. Either one of them has to prevail. For realizing the Self, a pure mind is absolutely essential. If one learns to forget and forgive, his mind always remains tranquil and sets the right atmosphere for establishing link with the Lord.

Emotion is the root cause for bondage and attachments. Pleasures and pains are parts of one’s life. Everyone has his own tales of pleasures and pains. If one changes his mental outlook according to the circumstances he is in, it is a clear sign of mental perturbation. A perturbed person can never concentrate. For him, the mind swing is high leading to lack of concentration. Another fact is desire or wants. If one develops desire, it is very difficult to come out of it. First, the mind will aim for a single object. When he gets that object it will look for another. If he is not able to get what he has desired, it leads to anger and frustration. Beyond a point, he may not be able to withhold his anger. When the threshold limit is crossed, his mind becomes totally out of control and paves the way for his downfall. The union with the Lord is possible only if the mind is calm. Agitated mind can never attain spiritual perfection. Therefore, subjugation of the mind is important, as every thought originates in the mind. If the mind is turbulent, it smites the senses directly prompting the person to indulge in evil activities. Mind is the ultimate cause to control senses and the body. Throughout Bhagavad Gita, Krishna repeatedly talks about the mind, as the whole of spirituality happens only in the arena of mind.

Another requirement in spirituality is positive affirmation. Repeated positive affirmations lead to firming up of resolutions. Since the concept of surrender has to happen through the mind, repeated positive affirmations make things happen. That is why, Krishna wants minds of His devotees to be surrendered to Him. If surrender is made in true sense, the Lord will ensure that His devotees’ minds do not waver. True surrender means surrendering one’s intellect also to the Lord. After surrender is complete in all respects, one does not need to think about anyone else apart from the Lord. Whatever the actions a surrendered devotee performs, the results go to the Lord. Fruits of actions accrue, only if ego prevails. Obviously, ego cannot exist in such devotees, because he does not have any room in the mind to think about anything else apart from the Lord. His entire mind is pervaded by the Lord and Lord alone.

Pleasures and pains are part of one’s life, which is determined by one’s own actions. Whatever is sown today is reaped tomorrow, is the principle of karmic theory. When one surrenders to the Lord consciously, he is not bound by karmas. Pleasures and pains are only for the body. When mind is imbibed with the thought of Lord, mind cannot entertain either pleasure or pain. Such a person experiences both happiness and sadness without differentiation. Happiness and sadness arise only if one gets attached to the fruits of his actions. Further, his mind is not with him as he has already surrendered his mind to the Lord who is beyond all the dyads. Such a person does not fear for anything or anybody. The qualities of the Lord have already pervaded him. He is like the Lord, but not the Lord. Śhiva Sūtra describes this state of the aspirant as ‘he appears like Śiva’. For him, there are no requirements, as he remains in the state of perpetual bliss. Such a person cannot think abominably, as he has surrendered his free will to the Lord. For him, there is no distraction of mind, as his mind is not with him; it is with the Lord.

Krishna says such a person, who has truly surrendered unto Him, is very dear to Him. Who will not love this person who always helps others, does good to others, does not require anything for him, compassionate and cheerful all the time? After all, the Lord is the embodiment of all these qualities.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XII. 10 - 12

Bhagavad Gita Chapter XII. 17 - 20