Verses 12.15–12.16

Love Is Your Very Life

12.15

यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: | हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय:

yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ / harṣāmarṣabha-yodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ / / 12.15

He, by whom the world is not affected adversely, and who in turn does not affect the world adversely, and he, who is free from joy, anger, and anxiety, he is dear to Me.

yasmāt — from whom

na — not

udvijate — is agitated

lokaḥ — the world

lokāt — from the world

na — not

udvijate — is agitated

ca — and

yaḥ — who

harṣāmarṣabhayodvegaiḥ — from joy

muktaḥ — freed

yaḥ — who

sa — he

ca — and

me — to me

priyaḥ — dear

12.16

अनपेक्ष: शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथ: | सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय:

anapekṣaḥ śucirdakṣaḥ udāsīno gatavyathaḥ / sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ / / 12.16

He, who is free from wants, who is pure and skilled, unconcerned, untroubled, who is selfless in whatever he does, he who is devoted to Me, he is dear to Me.

anapekṣaḥ — free from expectations

śuciḥ — pure

dakṣa — expert

udāsīnaḥ — unconcerned

gatavyathaḥ — untroubled

sarvārambha parityāgī — renouncing all undertakings

yo — who

madbhaktaḥ — my devotee

saḥ — he

me — to me

priyaḥ — dear

Kṛṣṇa now moves into higher gear. Once you let go of joy, anxiety and anger, once you transcend these emotions, you reach a state of calmness that takes you close to Him. Now, He moves from ‘nissaṇgatvaṁ’ to ‘nirmohatvaṁ,’ from emotional non-attachment to non-attachment to desires. We need to understand the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Needs are necessary for us to survive on planet Earth, like the basic needs of food, shelter, etc. The great Jain master Māhāvira says, ‘The moment you are born on this planet, the Universe sends everything with you that you need.’ We just need to trust the Universe and we shall get what we need to live.

We shall not want anything else. However, we end up seeking more. Basic needs are no longer enough. Everything we have is a match for what others have. It is a constant cycle of ‘What next? What next?’ Even before we start enjoying what we have got, we make a plan to get more. There is no joy in having, the joy is in chasing. There is no end point to this chase. When you become the richest in your family, you need to become the richest on the street and then the richest in the town, then the richest in the country and then the richest in the world.

There is no end. Wants are endless. Wants are suffering. Wants are born out of comparison with oth- Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 917 ers. Needs, our basic needs, carry the energy within them for fulfillment. Wants only carry the seeds of our own suffering. During our Nithya Kriya Yoga Program, or LBP Level 2, we take participants through the seven layers of the energy bodies that the spirit passes through when we die. In this process, the departing spirit remembers all that happened during its time in the body until the point of death. It is like a fast replay of all that has happened, every incident that is stored on the hard disk of our memory.

In one of the sessions, I ask people to make a list of their desires, their needs and wants. They fill pages with it. I ask them to review the list many times. Then they do a meditation process. At the end of the meditation, I ask them to recollect from memory their list of desires. What they can recollect is usually a fraction of what they have written. It is as if they started with a large tree full of leaves, their desires, and during this meditation the tree shed almost all its leaves, as if the leaves were dry and dead. What it retained glowed like golden leaves.

Whatever is left in their memories, those desires glow like gold. They are the ones that carry the energy for their fulfillment! These desires are the true desires that they carry. If the process is done with awareness, these desires are always selfless desires. They may enrich the individual, no doubt, but they always enrich humanity. Only such selfless desires carry the energy of the Universe with them for fulfillment. When our desires are our own true desires, when they reflect our real needs, when they express themselves in our inner energy, we don’t feel any desperation about trying to achieve them. The realization comes that, as a matter of the natural course of events, these desires will be fulfilled.

We are not driven and we are not troubled. We accept that these will happen. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa counsels Arjuna, ‘Become free from wants, be selfless and you shall be untroubled, liberated and you will reach Me.’ Beyond Love And Hate