16. He who is free from dependence, who is pure, prompt, unconcerned, untroubled, renouncing every undertaking,--he who is thus devoted to Me, is dear to Me.

17. He who neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, nor desires, renouncing good and evil, full of devotion, he is dear to Me.

18-19. He who is the same to friend and foe, and also in honour and dishonour; who is the same in heat and cold, and in pleasure and pain; who is free from attachment; to whom censure and praise are equal; who is silent, content with anything, homeless, steady-minded, full of devotion,--that man is dear to Me.

20. And they who follow this Immortal Dharma, as described above, endued with Shraddha, regarding Me as the Supreme Goal, and devoted,--they are exceedingly dear to Me.

The end of the twelfth chapter designated, THE WAY OF DEVOTION.

Footnotes

^276:1 Thus: as declared in the last preceding verse (xi. 55).

The Unmanifested--Avyaktam--i.e., That which is incomprehensible to the senses, as devoid of all Upadhis.

^278:3 Worship--Upasana--is approaching the object of worship by way of meditating on it, in accordance with the teachings of the Shastras and the Guru, and dwelling steadily in the current of that one thought, even as a thread of oil poured from one vessel to another.

Unchangeable--Kutastha: lit., remaining like a mass. He who is seated in Maya as its Witness.

^278:5 The embodied--Those who are attached to, or have identified themselves with, their bodies.

No comparison between the worshippers of the qualified and unqualified Brahman is meant here--since by the context, both reach the same goal. The path of the qualified Brahman is described as superior only because it is easier. The path of the unqualified Brahman is harder, because of the necessity of having to abandon all attachment to the body, from the very beginning of the practice.

^280:6 Mortal Samsara: The round of birth and death.

^280:8 Mind--Manas: purpose and thought.

Intellect--the faculty which resolves and determines.

Live in Me--as My Self.

^281:9 Abhyasa-Yoga: the practice of repeatedly withdrawing the mind from the objects to which it wanders, and trying to fix it on one thing.

^282:11 In the preceding Slokas,--first, the concentration of the mind on the Lord is enjoined; in case of inability to do that, Abhyasa-Yoga is advised; if one finds that to be too hard, the performance of actions for the sake of the Lord alone, has been taught. Those who cannot do this even, who want to do things impelled by personal or other desires, are directed to give up the fruits of those actions to the Lord--i.e., not to anticipate, dwell or build on, or care for, the results, knowing them to be dependent upon the Lord. Those who cannot control their desire for work are taught to practise: indifference to the effects thereof.