Yo Na Hrishyati Na Dveshti

Four things this devotee does not do: does not become wildly elated, does not hate, does not drown in grief, and does not crave. And one more — renounces attachment to both the auspicious and the inauspicious. Not clinging to good fortune, not recoiling in terror from bad fortune. Both are released equally.

Picture an old village pond. In the monsoon, it stays the same. In the scorching summer, it stays the same. No waves of excitement, no drying up in despair. Just still, steady water. The devotee who moves through life's highs and lows with this kind of steadiness — and whose heart is filled with bhakti — that person, Krishna says, is dear to Me.

This is the fifth shloka in the devotee-qualities section (12.13-19). By now, the cumulative portrait is rich: inner peace, equanimity, compassion, skill, freedom from craving and grief, and devotion running through all of it.

The phrase 'shubhashubhaparityagi' is significant. Traditional commentaries note an important distinction: the devotee does not abandon ethics or morality. What is renounced is the attachment to favorable outcomes and the fear of unfavorable ones. The inner response to both is the same: steady.