यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: |
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय: || 15||
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate cha yaḥ
harṣhāmarṣha-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa cha me priyaḥ
yasmāt—by whom; na—not; udvijate—are agitated; lokaḥ—people; lokāt—from people; na—not; udvijate—are disturbed; cha—and; yaḥ—who; harṣha—pleasure; amarṣha—pain; bhaya—fear; udvegaiḥ—anxiety; muktaḥ—free; yaḥ—who; saḥ—they; cha—and; me—to Me; priyaḥ—very dear
Translation:
He by whom the world is not afflicted and whom the world cannot afflict, he who is free from joy and anger, fear and anxiety— he is dear to Me.
Commentary:
Lokan no dvijate: The devotee should not have any fear of the world. People may say a hundred things to him and about him, he should not swerve from the path of truth and righteousness. “Be fearless” is the command. The Lord has already mentioned fearlessness (vigatabhih) – and declares it again as ‘abhyam’.
Harshamarshabhayodvegaih: To be free from these fits of joy, hatred, anxiety, fear – is to be almost perfect in spiritual realisation. All these are various mental modifications which cause misery to man. The devotee should be free from them. He should maintain equanimity of mind at all times (samatvam yoga uchyate).
While Swami Ashokananda had laid down few convent rules, his reply to the question, asked by Dorothy, “What is the most important thing in monastic life?” was “To be able to live in a group of diverse people without being agitated by them and without agitating them.” Embedded in that response were a number of hard-core disciplines: detachment, self-abnegation, forbearance, endurance, and, above all, selflessness. (Source: A Heart Poured Out – A Story of Swami Ashokananda)