Q2: How does he speak? (Bg 2.56 and 2.57)
Krsna answers the second question of Arjuna, describing how the pure devotee responds to external circumstances, including the way others behave towards him and different practical situations.
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Verse 56: duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ, sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ, sthita-dhīr munir ucyate
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
Verse 57: yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas, tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham
nābhinandati na dveṣṭi, tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.
We can see that in verse 2.56, Krsna describes the self-realized devotee as "sthita-dhīr muni". Ordinarily, the word muni is used in the sense of a mental speculator who creates many philosophical theories. Munis typically challenge each other and thus waste their time discussing without reaching any factual conclusion. The sthita-dhīr muni Krsna mentions here, however, is a different type of muni, who exhausted this process of mental speculation and came to the point of surrendering to Krsna, understanding He is everything. In other words, the sthita-dhīr muni is a devotee who came to the platform of devotional service from a platform of knowledge and, as a result, becomes very firmly fixed in the platform of devotion.
Later in the Bhagavad-gītā, Krsna describes that from the four types of persons who surrender to Him, a devotee who is in full knowledge and as a result is always engaged in devotional service, is the best.
In verses 2.56 and 2.57, Krsna answers the second question of Arjuna (how does he speak?), describing how the pure devotee responds to external circumstances, including the way others behave towards him and different practical situations. He does so by describing a number of additional characteristics:
a) He is equipoised in changing material conditions. He is not disturbed when there are difficulties, nor overjoyed in pleasant situations.
b) He is free from material attachment, fear, and anger.
c) Because he is fixed in perfect knowledge, he is unaffected by both good and evil, neither praising nor despising it.
All material conditions are felt through the mind. The senses capture information that is interpreted by the mind, creating our view of reality. The mind classifies material objects and situations as pleasant and unpleasant, desirable and undesirable, etc., and forces us to move in the material world, trying to obtain one group and avoid the other. When a person can obtain desirable things and avoid undesirables, according to the classifications of the mind, he judges himself as happy and successful, and if the opposite, he considers himself poor and miserable. However, because these material conditions don't affect the soul, they are ultimately illusory, and therefore a pure devotee does not spend much energy on it, preferring to concentrate on his practice of devotional service to the Lord, which he may express both externally, through practical services, and internally through meditation.
We can see, for example, that Prahlāda Maharaja had little opportunity to perform practical devotional service since he was constantly watched by the demons, but this never prevented him from being constantly absorbed in the service of the Lord in His meditation. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, on the other hand, being a king and having all facilities and freedom was able to engage all his senses in different devotional activities, using his words to describe the glories of the Lord, his hands to clean His temple, his ears in hearing about Krsna, his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṇa, and so on. From these two examples, we can see that no material situation is capable of preventing a pure devotee from serving the Lord in one way or another. In any condition a pure devotee is put in, He will use any facilities that are available to continue his service to the Lord, even if only mentally.
Fear and anger come from attachment. Fear means anxiety over losing something we have, and anger comes from frustration for not obtaining something we desire. Because a self-realized devotee has no attachment, he becomes free from both fear and anger, as well as all sorts of material lamentation. We can remember that in verse 2.16, Krsna already defined temporary situations as asat (illusory, nonexistent) with the lines nāsato vidyate bhāvo, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ. By fully understanding this instruction, a pure devotee becomes concerned with the permanent, and not the temporary.
The word "duḥkheṣu" means being in material miseries, in the plural. Duḥkheṣu means literally "in misery" or "in painful situations", but because there are no miseries in the spiritual platform, it is generally translated as "in material miseries". Because there are three types of material miseries, Prabhupada translates it as "in the threefold miseries". The three types of material miseries are miseries coming from one's own body and mind (like different types of diseases), miseries caused by the actions of others, and miseries caused by superior forces, like natural disasters.
Prabhupada explains that a pure devotee accepts any material miseries that may appear as the mercy of Krsna, considering that he is actually eligible for much more trouble due to his past activities, but that Krsna is protecting him by minimizing it to a minimum. Similarly, when pleasant situations appear, he is grateful to the Lord, considering himself unworthy of such facilities. In this way, we can see how a pure devotee is grateful in both circumstances, different from a neophyte devotee who sees the Lord as an order supplier and may become angry when his plans are not fulfilled.
In short, the answer to the second question of Arjuna, (How does he speak? How is his intelligence and words affected by other’s affection, anger or neutrality? How does he respond to external sources of agitation?) is that a devotee is unaffected by material happiness or distress because his consciousness is fixed in spirit, not in matter. He does not fear losing what he has, nor does he fear not obtaining what he desires. His mind is thus steady in both good and bad and he is thus always grateful. He is satisfied with what comes without effort by the grace of Krsna, and he is thus peaceful and happy, with no need for disturbing others.
Main points in the purports of Srila Prabhupada:
"One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind."
a) The word muni ordinarily applies to a mental speculator. The verse, however, refers to a very special type of muni. The sthita-dhīr muni is a sage who is always in Krsna Consciousness, having exhausted the process of mental speculation.
b) The sthita-dhīr muni surpassed the stage of mental speculation and reached the conclusion that Vāsudeva, Sri Krsna, is everything. The word sthita-dhīr indicates a person fixed in mind.
c) Another symptom is that he is not disturbed by material miseries, seeing all difficulties as the mercy of the Lord. He sees that he is subjected to difficulties due to the results of his own past karma and that the Lord is minimizing such reactions, blunting the blows. Conversely, he sees that it is due to the mercy of the Lord that he can obtain comfortable material situations and thus remain happy in both.
d) Because he is not influenced by attachment and aversion, he can act daringly in the service of the Lord, perfectly engaging all the tools, talents, and resources at his disposal. Even when his attempts are not successful, he remains steady in his determination.
"In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge."
a) Because the material world is a place of duality, there is always the possibility of good and evil. This, however, does not affect a person fixed in Krsna Consciousness. Krsna is all-good and absolute; therefore, a devotee fixed on Him is situated in a perfect transcendental position, in samādhi.
b) The capacity to remain unaffected by material upheavals is thus another symptom of a person in Krsna Consciousness.
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