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Chapter 12 · Devotional Service · 20 verses

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Character & ethicsChapter 12 · Devotional Service

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 12.18

The qualities of a devotee dear to Krishna

सम: शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयो: ।

शीतोष्णसुखदु:खेषु सम: सङ्गविवर्जित: ॥ १८ ॥

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।

अनिकेत: स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नर: ॥ १९ ॥

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca

tathā mānāpamānayoḥ

śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu

samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ

tulya-nindā-stutir maunī

santuṣṭo yena kenacit

aniketaḥ sthira-matir

bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ

Translation

One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, 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.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

A Devotee’s Steady Heart

  1. 1A devotee who treats friends and enemies equally and stays steady in happiness and distress is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that devotional service naturally helps a devotee develop these good qualities.
  3. 3Avoid bad association, speak about Kṛṣṇa rather than nonsense, and be satisfied in different conditions.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 12, Devotional Service: the qualities of a devotee dear to krishna.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Cultivate divine qualities in character.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: daivī-sampat, dharma.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 12.18 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to character & ethics?

Practice

Choose one virtue to practice consciously today.

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The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 12 ›
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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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