FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.32.24

यदास्य चित्तमर्थेषु समेष्विन्द्रियवृत्तिभि: । न विगृह्णाति वैषम्यं प्रियमप्रियमित्युत ॥ २४ ॥
yadāsya cittam artheṣu
[yadaasya chittam artheshu]
sameṣv indriya-vṛttibhiḥ
[sameshv indriya-vrittibhih]
na vigṛhṇāti vaiṣamyaṁ
[na vigrihnaati vaishamyam]
priyam apriyam ity uta
[priyam apriyam ity uta]
yadā — when asya — of the devotee cittam — the mind artheṣu — in the sense objects sameṣu — same indriya-vṛttibhiḥ — by the activities of the senses na — not vigṛhṇāti — does perceive vaiṣamyam — difference priyam — agreeable apriyam — not agreeable iti — thus uta — certainly.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yadāsya cittam artheṣu
yadā
when
asya
of the devotee
cittam
the mind
artheṣu
in the sense objects
sameṣv indriya-vṛttibhiḥ
sameṣu
same
indriya-vṛttibhiḥ
by the activities of the senses
na vigṛhṇāti vaiṣamyaṁ
na
not
vigṛhṇāti
does perceive
vaiṣamyam
difference
priyam apriyam ity uta
priyam
agreeable
apriyam
not agreeable
iti
thus
uta
certainly.
The exalted devotee’s mind becomes equipoised in sensory activities, and he is transcendental to that which is agreeable and not agreeable.

The significance of advancement in transcendental knowledge and detachment from material attraction is exhibited in the personality of a highly advanced devotee. For him there is nothing agreeable or disagreeable because he does not act in any way for his personal sense gratification. Whatever he does, whatever he thinks, is for the satisfaction of the Personality of Godhead. Either in the material world or in the spiritual world, his equipoised mind is completely manifested. He can understand that in the material world there is nothing good; everything is bad due to its being contaminated by material nature. The materialists conclusions of good and bad, moral and immoral, etc., are simply mental concoction or sentiment. Actually there is nothing good in the material world. In the spiritual field everything is absolutely good. There is no inebriety in the spiritual varieties. Because a devotee accepts everything in spiritual vision, he is equipoised; that is the symptom of his being elevated to the transcendental position. He automatically attains detachment, vairāgya, then jñāna, knowledge, and then actual transcendental knowledge. The conclusion is that an advanced devotee dovetails himself in the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and in that sense he becomes qualitatively one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
When the mind of a person with some bhakti does not perceive differences such as good or bad in material objects which are equally accepted by the senses, by intelligence he then experiences himself as jīva endowed with detachment, with equal vision, devoid of conceptions of good or bad, and then realizes Vaikuṇtha or Brahman, which is almost achieved. By what symptoms should jñāna and vairāgya produced by bhakti be understood? This verse answers. Jñāna occurs when the mind of a person with some bhakti, being fixed in the Lord by attraction to his qualities, does not accept inequality in material objects to be seen, heard or touched, which are actually all equal as far as being received by the senses. Inequality means “This is good to hear, this is not good to hear.” He treats equally stone and gold which may be criticized or praised by others. By intelligence he experiences the jīva, and by its detachment, he experiences Vaikuṇtḥa (padam) or Brahman, which is almost achieved.
Mind and senses, left ungoverned, will quietly run a life into the ground. The verse implies that small daily regulation is more powerful than occasional dramatic resolve. The verse anchors this in Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • Which sense, if you watched it for one day, would surprise you with how often you indulge it?
  • Where could you offer the senses a better object instead of merely fighting them?
📝 My note

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