Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 12, Verse 17
यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः।।
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati
śubhāśubha-parityāgī bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ
also searched as "yo na hrishyati na dveshti na shochati na kankshati"
Translation
He who does not rejoice, nor hate, nor grieve, nor desire, who renounces both good and evil, and who is full of devotion to Me—such a devotee is dear to Me.
Vāṇi's rendering
Neither exulting nor hating, neither grieving nor craving; releasing good and bad alike, full of love — dear to me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यःyo | the one who (yaḥ, softened to yo before na) |
| नna | not |
| हृष्यतिhṛṣyati | exults, is thrilled |
| नna | not |
| द्वेष्टिdveṣṭi | hates, recoils in aversion |
| नna | not |
| शोचतिśocati | grieves, laments |
| नna | not |
| काङ्क्षतिkāṅkṣati | craves, hankers after what is missing |
| शुभśubha | the good, the auspicious (joined to the next word by sandhi) |
| अशुभaśubha | the bad, the inauspicious |
| परित्यागीparityāgī | one who has let go of, released |
| भक्तिमान्bhaktimān | full of love, holding devotion |
| यःyaḥ | who |
| सःsa | that one |
| मेme | to me |
| प्रियःpriyaḥ | dear, beloved |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 17 mean?
Krishna names four movements that keep the heart busy — exulting, hating, grieving, craving — and describes one who no longer runs on them. Such a person has stopped sorting every event into good and bad. What remains is not emptiness but bhakti, love with nothing in its way. That one, Krishna says, is dear to me.
What does 'yo na hrishyati na dveshti na shochati na kankshati' teach?
It teaches that our inner weather is mostly reaction — a rise at gain, a recoil at loss, a mourning for what left, a reaching for what has not come. The verse does not ask you to suppress these. It describes someone in whom they have quietly lost their grip, and calls that person beloved.
Does releasing good and bad mean I stop caring about right and wrong?
No. Śubha and aśubha here are the labels you paste on your own fortune — this went well for me, this went badly. Letting them go is not moral blindness; it is refusing to make your peace depend on the tally. You still act rightly. You simply stop auditing the result.
How is this devotion and not just detachment?
Because the verse ends on bhaktimān. Detachment alone leaves a cool, closed person; Krishna is describing a warm one. The four reactions consume enormous feeling, and when they quiet, that feeling has somewhere to go. Love is not what is left over after emptying. It is what the emptying was for.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Four denials, and then a fullness. Krishna empties the devotee of exulting, hating, grieving, craving — and someone will hear that as a cold description, a man with the lights off. Then comes the last word: bhaktimān, full of love. The four are not subtractions from feeling; they are what stops competing with it. Releasing good and bad alike does not mean you stop telling them apart. It means you stop weighing every hour on that scale, checking whether life has gone well for you today. Put the scale down. What floods in is not numbness — it is the affection you were too busy to feel.