yo na hrishyati na dveshti na shochati na kaanshati |
shubhaashubhaparityaagee bhaktimaanhyaha sa me priyaha || 17 ||
 
He who neither rejoices nor hates, neither rejoices nor grieves, he who has given up good and bad, he who is (such a) devoted person, he is dear to me.
 
yaha : he who
na : not
hrishyati : rejoices
na : not
dveshti : hates
na : not
shochati : grieves
na : not
kaanshati : desires
shubhaashubhaparityaagee : given up good and bad
bhaktimaan : devoted person
yaha : he who
saha : he
me : me
priyaha : dear
 
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna described the attitude of a perfected devotee towards the performance of actions. He now elaborates upon the attitude of a perfected devotee towards situations, objects, thoughts and emotions that he encounters. These may come to him either as a result of his actions or as a matter of course in his daily life.
 
When we usually encounter a situation or obtain an object, we are either attracted to it, repulsed by it or are indifferent to it. Attraction generates desires that are stored in our mind, and repulsion generates negative desires, a list of things we would like to stay away from. If we eventually get the favourable object, or hold on to the favourable situation long enough, we become “harshita”, we rejoice. But if we lose that object or situation, which is bound to happen sometime, we become “shochita”, we grieve. Attraction, revulsion, desire, hatred, joy, grief – this is how most of us usually operate.
 
The perfected devotee, however, has tackled this problem at its root. He has stopped labelling any object, person, situation or thought as either good or bad, because it is exactly this labelling that starts the chain reaction of attraction, desire, joy and sorrow. He is like the model student who does not label his teacher’s feedback as good or bad, whether it be praise or criticism, because he has the utmost faith in his teacher. The perfected devotee accepts all objects and situations as Ishvara’s blessings, does what he has to do, and moves on. Shri Krishna says that one who accepts whatever comes with way due to his faith and devotion to Ishvara, is dear to him.