Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 23 (BG 14.23) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 14.23 — Commentary Translation In these three verses, the Blessed Lord Krishna provides a detailed description of the relationship that the wise person maintains with the objects and beings of the world. Human culture can be a false mask. So long as sufficiently tempting circumstances do not present themselves before us, many of us can behave like the divine. Until power comes into a person's hands, he may not be cruel. While he remains poor, he may live a peaceful life, and in the absence of temptations, he may remain above corruption. Thus, many virtues with which we consider many persons to be endowed are merely artificial ornaments. Their true inferior nature remains hidden beneath that mask. Potentially wicked persons, adorned in the artificial garments of borrowed virtues, continue to wander through the world. Therefore, the true test or recognition of the wise person is not in forests or mountain caves, but rather in the midst of the marketplace, where he is afflicted by the wickedness of the world. Jesus Christ was never as great as he was at the moment of his crucifixion. It is only when we are crushed by the world that our true nature is revealed. Fragrance emerges from sandalwood through friction. The fingers with which we crush the holy basil leaves are left bearing its fragrance. The wise person, seated like one indifferent, is not disturbed by the gunas. In all experiences—auspicious, inauspicious, and negligible—of the world, he remains indifferent, because he knows that all this is merely the play of the mind. We are not disturbed by the happy or sad ending of a film shown in a cinema hall, because we know that this is a shadow-play presented for our entertainment. This does not mean that the wise person has no relationship whatsoever with the events of the world. Vyasa chooses his words with great care. He says that the wise person appears to be indifferent—seated as though indifferent. This means that he is not disturbed or agitated by the events occurring in his life and in the external world. He well knows that these constant changes occurring within his inner being are only of the gunas, and moreover, the experience of the external world also changes according to the state of mind. The person of true vision, knowing the process of changes occurring in both his inner and outer worlds, remains unmoved by them. To witness the play of these gunas, one must become a witness unto oneself. Established in one's true nature as atman, he observes the inner and outer play of the gunas and enjoys its bliss. A person watching a street fight from a balcony above is not affected by that fight. Similarly, the wise person, from his state of equanimity, cannot be disturbed by the gunas. Clarifying the previous verse further, he says...