Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12, Verse 17 (BG 12.17) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

That person is called the supreme devotee who has renounced the false identifications of mind and intellect, abandoned his sense of separateness from the world, and established himself firmly in the blissful nature of the atman. Therefore, it is natural that experiences of pleasure and pain arising from the non-self world can neither attract him nor disturb his equanimity. This is what is conveyed in this verse. The ordinary person does not perceive the objects of the world as they truly are. Some things appear desirable to him, others undesirable. Consequently, he desires the pleasant objects and develops aversion toward the unpleasant ones. From this arises a third duality—the impulse to pursue what is desired and to reject what is despised. As a result, when he obtains what he wishes for, he rejoices; otherwise, he grieves. In the wise devotee, all these distortions and reactions are absent. The reason is that, being established in his supreme blissful nature, he does not imagine happiness and sorrow in external illusory objects, nor does he develop attachment or aversion toward them. In the absence of the duality of attachment and aversion, joy and sorrow naturally cease to exist. This devotee perceives the world not through the lens of imagination, but as it truly is. When a person does not know his own blissful nature, he continues to seek happiness and peace in the external world. In that condition, driven by his attachments and aversions, he performs both auspicious and inauspicious actions to obtain objects. But the devotee, being free from attachment and aversion, transcends both the auspicious and the inauspicious. Thus we see that every word employed in the aforementioned verse carries a profound inner significance. Otherwise, if we accept only the literal meaning, it would appear that the wise devotee is merely a corpse or a stone—for he neither desires nor despises, neither rejoices nor grieves; in other words, he remains as if dead. This verse is a most compelling example of how the literal meaning of the words of dharma-shastra does not reveal their true purpose and intent. Therefore, it becomes necessary to contemplate their deeper significance. The devotee endowed with the qualities described in this verse becomes dear to the Divine. This verse is the fourth section of the present topic, in which six more characteristics of the wise devotee are presented. Thus far, twenty-six qualities have been enumerated as the natural marks of the devotee.