Skip to main content
← Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion

Verse 12.19

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येनकेनचित् | अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ||१९||

Transliteration (IAST)

tulya-nindā-stutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit | aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ ||19||

Word-by-Word Meanings

tulya-nindā-stutiḥ-equal in blame and praise
maunī-silent/contemplative
santuṣṭaḥ-content
yena kenacit-with whatever
aniketaḥ-without fixed abode
sthira-matiḥ-steady-minded
bhaktimān-full of devotion
priyaḥ-dear

Translation

One who is equal in blame and praise, who is contemplative, content with whatever comes, without attachment to a fixed abode, steady-minded, and full of devotion - such a person is dear to Me.

Commentary

Shankaracharya interprets 'aniketaḥ' (homeless) not as literal homelessness but as freedom from psychological dependence on place and circumstance. 'Maunī' refers not to silence of speech but to inner stillness - the mind absorbed in God. Ramanuja sees this verse as the culmination of the devotee portrait: one who is complete in themselves through God alone.

Themes

bhaktisurrenderyoga