FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.10.6

అమాన్యమత్సరో దక్షో నిర్మమోద‍ృఢసౌహృద: । అసత్వరోఽర్థజిజ్ఞాసురనసూయురమోఘవాక్ ॥ ౬ ॥
amāny amatsaro dakṣo
[amaany amatsaro daksho]
nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
[nirmamo dridha-sauhridah]
asatvaro ’rtha-jijṣāsur
[asatvaro ’rtha-jijshaasur]
anasūyur amogha-vāk
[anasooyur amogha-vaak]
Word-for-word
amānī — without false ego amatsaraḥ — not considering oneself to be the doer dakṣaḥ — without laziness nirmamaḥ — without any sense of proprietorship over one’s wife, children, home, society, etc. dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ — being fixed in the mood of loving friendship with the spiritual master, who is one’s worshipable deity asatvaraḥ — without becoming bewildered due to material passion artha-jijṣāsuḥ — desiring knowledge of the Absolute Truth anasūyuḥ — free from envy amogha-vāk — completely free from useless conversation.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
amāny amatsaro dakṣo
amānī
without false ego
amatsaraḥ
not considering oneself to be the doer
dakṣaḥ
without laziness
nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
nirmamaḥ
without any sense of proprietorship over one’s wife, children, home, society, etc.
dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
being fixed in the mood of loving friendship with the spiritual master, who is one’s worshipable deity
asatvaraḥ
without becoming bewildered due to material passion
asatvaro ’rtha-jijṣāsur
artha-jijṣāsuḥ
desiring knowledge of the Absolute Truth
anasūyur amogha-vāk
anasūyuḥ
free from envy
amogha-vāk
completely free from useless conversation.
The servant or disciple of the spiritual master should be free from false prestige, never considering himself to be the doer. He should be active and never lazy and should give up all sense of proprietorship over the objects of the senses, including his wife, children, home and society. He should be endowed with feelings of loving friendship toward the spiritual master and should never become deviated or bewildered. The servant or disciple should always desire advancement in spiritual understanding, should not envy anyone and should always avoid useless conversation.
Purport

No one can claim to be the permanent proprietor of his so-called wife, family, home, society, and so on. Such material relationships appear and disappear like bubbles on the surface of the ocean. No one can claim to be the creator of the material elements that produced one’s home, society and family. If it were a fact that parents were the ultimate creators of the bodies of their children, children would never die before their parents; the parents would simply create new bodies for the children. Similarly, parents would also not die, because they would create new bodies for themselves to replace the old ones. Actually, God creates everyone’s bodies as well as the material elements with which we build our material societies. Therefore, before death drags these things out of our grasp, we should voluntarily engage them in the loving service of the spiritual master, who is the bona fide representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then such material objects, instead of causing lamentation, will be the cause of happiness.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The disciple should be without pride, without selfishness, without possessiveness and without laziness, and should have firm faith in guru and the Lord. He should be patient in attaining his goal, desirous of knowing the truth, free of envy and controlled in speech. The qualities of the disciple are described. He should be devoid of possessiveness (nimamaḥ) and should have strong affection for guru and the Lord. He is not hasty in attaining his desired goal (asatvaraḥ).
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Serve the spiritual master without false ego, laziness, possessiveness, envy, or idle talk - and let that mood reshape every relationship before death pries them loose.
Practical Applications
  • Name one thing today (a role, a possession, a relationship) that you secretly call "mine," and offer it inwardly to the spiritual master before using it.
  • Refuse one piece of useless conversation today - gossip, complaint, or scrolling chatter - and instead ask one real question about Krishna.
  • Notice the next pulse of envy toward a peer's praise or progress, and replace it with a concrete prayer for their advancement.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I posing as the doer in service, quietly collecting credit that belongs to guru and Krishna?
  • Which "my wife, my child, my home" attachment is the one I would most resist hearing called a bubble - and what does that resistance reveal?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • When a classmate's marks, internship, or follower count spikes, catch the first flick of envy and silently wish them more - treat that micro-moment as today's practice of non-envy.
  • Pick one group chat or feed where your speech is mostly useless and impose a 24-hour fast from posting there, using the time to read one purport instead.
  • Stop saying "my room, my phone, my friends" in your head for one day; rename them "entrusted to me" and notice how decisions about time and money shift.
householder
  • Before a family decision this week - money, schooling, a purchase - pause and ask, "If this house and family are not finally mine, how would a trustee for Krishna decide?" then act.
  • Identify the one colleague or relative whose success most pricks you, and do one concrete, unseen good turn for them this week as direct medicine against envy.
  • Replace one recurring slot of complaint-talk with your spouse (about in-laws, bosses, neighbors) with a fixed reading or kirtan together; let firm friendship start at home.
senior
  • Begin actively handing over what you have been calling "mine" - tools, books, responsibilities, accounts - to younger devotees or family, framing each transfer as engaging the object in service before death takes it.
  • Resolve that mentoring conversations will be inquiry-led in both directions: invite the young person's questions about Krishna rather than narrating your own accomplishments.
  • Audit your daily speech for one week and cut the two topics where you most often slide into useless reminiscence or grievance, redirecting that time to japa and hearing.
Common Pitfalls
  • Mistaking the verse's call to give up proprietorship as license to neglect family duties rather than to serve them without ownership.
  • Performing humility outwardly while inwardly cataloging one's renunciation and comparing it favorably with others.
  • Treating desire for advancement in spiritual understanding as appetite for more information, instead of as eagerness to be corrected and trained.
Discussion Prompts
  • Of the qualities listed - pridelessness, non-envy, expertise, non-possessiveness, firm friendship with guru, unhurriedness, inquisitiveness, non-malice, truthful speech - which one exposes you most, and which do you secretly think you already have?
  • Prabhupada says material relationships are bubbles, yet asks us to engage them in service rather than abandon them. Where do you find that line hardest to hold in your own life?
  • Is useless conversation defined by the topic, the motive, or the effect - and how would your daily speech change under each definition?
Role Play

Two students pair up. Student A has just been passed over for a service responsibility they wanted, given instead to a newer devotee. Student B is their godbrother and friend. A vents - partly humility, partly wounded pride, partly envy disguised as concern for standards. B must respond as someone trying to embody this verse: not flattering, not lecturing, not joining the complaint, but helping A name which of the nine qualities is actually under pressure right now.

Objections & Responses
  • Calling my wife and children "not really mine" sounds cold and irresponsible - isn't this the kind of religion that breaks up families?
    The verse does not say neglect them; it says do not claim to own them. The bubble metaphor is honest, not cold - you did not create their bodies and you cannot keep them. Precisely because the relationship is temporary, engage it now in Krishna's service, so the love is real and not a contract of possession that death will tear up anyway.
  • Firm friendship with the spiritual master and no envy of anyone sounds nice in theory, but every spiritual community I've seen is full of politics. Isn't this list naive?
    The verse is not describing what communities look like; it is describing what a disciple must become. Politics in a community is mostly injured pride, provoked possessiveness, and rationalized envy. The list is the diagnostic - when the community grates on you, check which of these nine you are missing today, not which one your godbrother lacks.
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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