Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 12, Verse 15
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः।हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः।।
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ
also searched as "yasman nodvijate loko lokan nodvijate cha yah"
Translation
He from whom the world has no cause to be frightened, who is not frightened by the world, who is free from joy and impatience, fear, and aversion - he is dear to me.
Vāṇi's rendering
The one who troubles no one, and whom nothing can trouble — that one is dear to me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यस्मात्yasmāt | from whom (appears as yasmān before the following n by sandhi) |
| नna | not (joined with the next word as nodvijate) |
| उद्विजतेudvijate | is agitated, shrinks back, is made uneasy |
| लोकःlokaḥ | the world, people around him |
| लोकात्lokāt | from the world (appears as lokān before the following n by sandhi) |
| नna | not (joined with the next word as nodvijate) |
| उद्विजतेudvijate | is agitated, is thrown off |
| चca | and |
| यःyaḥ | who |
| हर्ष-अमर्ष-भय-उद्वेगैःharṣa-amarṣa-bhaya-udvegaiḥ | by elation, resentment, fear and agitation (written harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegaiḥ when the vowels merge) |
| मुक्तःmuktaḥ | freed, released |
| यःyaḥ | who |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one |
| चca | and |
| मेme | to me |
| प्रियःpriyaḥ | dear |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 15 mean?
It names a devotee by the effect he has on a room. No one tightens when he arrives, and nothing that arrives can tighten him. Krishna traces this to freedom from harṣa, amarṣa, bhaya and udvega — elation, resentment, fear, agitation. A person swung by those becomes weather others must survive. Steadiness is the gift.
What is the meaning of yasman nodvijate loko lokan nodvijate cha yah?
From whom the world does not shrink, and who does not shrink from the world. The same word, udvijate, is used both ways on purpose. Fear given and fear received come from one root. Krishna is describing someone in whom that root has dried up, so nothing in either direction pulls.
Why does Krishna list joy along with fear and anger as something to be free of?
Because harṣa here is not quiet gladness but the swing upward — the lift that must fall. What rises that fast makes a person unreliable, to himself and to everyone near him. Krishna is not forbidding delight. He is describing a mind no longer thrown by it.
How can I live this verse in ordinary life?
Stop watching your intentions and start watching your effect. Notice who relaxes when you walk in and who braces. Then notice what still throws you — a tone of voice, a delay, a slight. Those two observations are the whole practice. Krishna calls the one who has done it dear.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Two directions, and both must be clear. Krishna asks first that no one flinch at your approach — that your presence not be a weather anyone braces for. Then the harder half: that nothing in the world can set you off either. And he names what does the setting off. Elation, resentment, fear, agitation — the four that make a person unpredictable, and unpredictable people are frightening to live beside. Arjuna is about to become the most fearsome man on the field. Krishna is telling him what that must not cost. Count who softens when you enter a room, and who stiffens.