Bhagavad Gita 12.15
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 15 of 20
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः।हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः ॥
yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ|harṣāmarṣabhayodvegairmukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ ||
He who neither troubles the world nor is troubled by it — free from joy, envy, fear, anxiety — he is dear to Me!
Word by word (3)
- yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
- — from/because of whom the world is not agitated, and who is not agitated by the world · yasmāt = from/because of whom (ablative relative; the cause-direction: the world is not disturbed BECAUSE OF this person). na udvijate = is not agitated/troubled (ud + √vij = to shake, tremble; udvijate = is agitated; na = not). lokaḥ = the world, people (nominative: the world is the subject that is not being agitated). lokāt = by/from the world (ablative: the world is the source of potential agitation toward this person). na udvijate ca yaḥ = who also is not agitated by the world. The verse describes a bilateral non-agitation: (1) this person does not agitate others — their presence is stabilizing, not disturbing; and (2) they are not agitated by what others do. The world doesn't disturb them AND they don't disturb the world. This is different from mere tolerance or conflict-avoidance: it is a stable non-reactive presence that simultaneously grounds the space around it.
- harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair muktaḥ
- — free from joy-burst, envy, fear, and anxiety · harṣa = excitement, elation, joy-burst (from √hṛṣ = to bristle with excitement, to thrill; harṣa = the thrill of excitement, usually triggered by favorable outcomes; interestingly not joy in general but reactive excitement). amarṣa = intolerance, indignation, envy (a difficult word: amarṣa from a + marṣa; marṣa = endurance/tolerance; amarṣa = inability to endure = indignation, resentment when others do well or when things don't go one's way; often translated 'wrath' but closer to 'reactive resentment or envy-based displeasure'). bhaya = fear (from √bhī = to be afraid; bhaya = the fear-response to threat or uncertainty). udvega = anxiety, agitation (from ud + √vij = to spring up, to shake; udvega = the state of being shaken = anxiety, fretfulness, restlessness). muktaḥ = free (past participle of √muc = to release; muktaḥ = the freed one; the same root as mokṣa = release). harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair muktaḥ = free FROM all four of these reactive states. The four together cover the entire range of reactive disturbance: excitement (when things go well), resentment/envy (when others go well), fear (of potential harm), anxiety (ongoing worry).
- yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ
- — that person too is dear to Me · yaḥ = who (relative pronoun; refers back to the bilateral non-agitation described above). sa = that one, he. ca = also, too (the ca here is connective: 'this person too' — continuing the enumeration of dear-devotee types). me = My (genitive). priyaḥ = dear (from √prī = to love; priya = beloved). This is the second occurrence of 'sa me priyaḥ' in the portrait (first was V14). Each refrain is a beat of emphasis: Krishna pauses to say 'this one — I love this one.' The portrait of the beloved is built through these affective refrains, not through philosophical arguments about who SHOULD be loved.
He by whom the world is not disturbed and who is not disturbed by the world, freed from elation, envy, fear, and anxiety — he too is dear to Me.
A modern analogy
Think of the person in a tense meeting who doesn't add to the tension — they're not amplifying the conflict, not reacting to slights, not getting excited at wins or indignant at losses. And the meeting seems calmer when they're there. That bilateral stability — not agitating others, not being agitated — is yasmān nodvijate lokaḥ / lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ.
Sit with this: This verse says the dear devotee is free from harṣa (excitement/elation) as well as fear and anxiety. Why would freedom from excitement be spiritually significant? Is there a difference between joy and harṣa-excitement that this verse is pointing toward?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
He by whom the world is not afflicted and who is not afflicted by the world, who is free from joy, envy, fear and sorrow, he is dear to Me. [1]
[V15 missing from SW indexed] [4]
Who troubleth not his kind, / And is not troubled by them; clear of wrath, / Living too high for gladness, grief, or fear, / That man I love! [7]
He through whom the world is not agitated, and who is not agitated by the world, who is free from joy and anger and fear and agitation, he too is dear to me. [9]
He through whom the world is not troubled, (and) who is not troubled by the world, who is free from joy, wrath, fear and anxieties, even he is dear to me. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Not elated at pleasant, not disturbed at unpleasant — steady, undeluded, the brahma-vit rests in Brahman.
Unmoved in sorrow, ungreedy in joy, free from passion, fear, and anger — that is the steady sage.
The guṇātīta neither hates light, activity, or delusion when present — nor yearns for them when absent.
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
Daivī wealth begins: abhaya, sattva-śuddhi, jñāna-yoga, dāna, dama, yajña, svādhyāya, tapa, ārjava.
More daivī qualities: ahiṃsā, satya, akrodha, tyāga, śānti, apaiśuna, dayā, aloluptva, mārdava, hrī, acāpala.
Verse 15 of 20 · back to Chapter 12