Devanagari
न मय्येकान्तभक्तानां गुणदोषोद्भवा गुणा: ।
साधूनां समचित्तानां बुद्धे: परमुपेयुषाम् ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
na mayy ekānta-bhaktānāṁ
guṇa-doṣodbhavā guṇāḥ
sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ
buddheḥ param upeyuṣām
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
mayi
—
in Me
;
eka
—
anta — unalloyed
;
bhaktānām
—
of the devotees
;
guṇa
—
recommended as good
;
doṣa
—
forbidden as unfavorable
;
udbhavāḥ
—
arising from such things
;
guṇāḥ
—
piety and sin
;
sādhūnām
—
of those who are free from material hankering
;
sama
—
cittānām — who maintain steady spiritual consciousness in all circumstances
;
buddheḥ
—
that which can be conceived by material intelligence
;
param
—
beyond
;
upeyuṣām
—
of those who have achieved .
Translation
Material piety and sin, which arise from the good and evil of this world, cannot exist within My unalloyed devotees, who, being free from material hankering, maintain steady spiritual consciousness in all circumstances. Indeed, such devotees have achieved Me, the Supreme Lord, who am beyond anything that can be conceived by material intelligence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The fully dedicated devotees who see equally everywhere and who have achieved the Lord who is superior to prakṛti do not have the guṇas which give rise to qualities of good and bad.
I have said guṇa-doṣa-dṛśir doṣo guṇas tūbhaya-varjitaḥ: to see good and bad is itself a bad quality, and thus the best quality is to transcend seeing good and bad qualities. (SB 11.19.45) This best quality resides in my devotees. The guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas from which arise good and bad qualities do not exist in these devotees. They have spiritual qualities because they have achieved the Lord who is eternity knowledge and bliss, who is superior to prakṛti (buddheḥ), and who is thus without any material qualities. All my senses are beyond the material guṇas. The nature of the devotee is described later with the words nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ: a person has taken shelter of me is beyond the guṇas. (SB 11.25.26)
Another meaning is as follows. The devotees have no qualities related to injunctions and prohibitions which give rise to concepts of good and bad. They have no good qualities by performing pious acts and no bad qualities by performing forbidden acts. Śiva describes how the devotees see equally (sama-cittānām):
nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ
Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of Nārāyaṇa never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same. SB 6.17.28
What to speak of seeing material faults in the perfect devotees who have attained the Lord by bhakti (upeyusām), one should not find fault even in the sādhakas who commit sins. The Lord has said:
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate |
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham |||
I carry the burden of supply and maintenance of those who desire constant association with me, and who, thinking only of me, worship only me. BG 9.22
Purport
The words
buddheḥ param
indicate that the material modes of nature cannot be found within a pure devotee absorbed in the transcendental qualities of the Lord. In the Second Chapter of
Bhagavad-gītā,
Lord Kṛṣṇa clearly explains that a pure devotee is recognized by complete detachment from personal desire; therefore, a pure devotee constantly engaged in selfless service to Lord Kṛṣṇa may not always observe the innumerable details of Vedic rituals and regulations. Such occasional negligence is not to be considered a transgression. Similarly, observance of ordinary material piety does not constitute the ultimate qualification of a soul surrendered to God. Love of Kṛṣṇa and absolute surrender to the Lord’s will raise one immediately to the transcendental platform, where activities performed on the Lord’s behalf are absolute, being an expression of God’s will. Ordinary materialistic persons sometimes falsely claim this exalted status for their whimsical, immoral activities and cause a great disturbance in society. However, just as an ordinary person should not falsely claim the executive privileges of the personal assistants of a national leader, similarly, an ordinary conditioned soul may not foolishly claim that his immoral, whimsical or speculative activities are sheltered by divine right, being the will of God. One must actually be a pure devotee of the Lord, empowered by the Lord Himself and completely surrendered to the will of the Lord, before one may be accepted as transcendental to ordinary piety and sin.
There are cases of highly elevated devotees who momentarily fell down from the saintly platform of devotional service. The Lord instructs in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.30)
:
api cet su-durācāro
bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ
samyag vyavasito hi saḥ
A momentary falldown by a sincere devotee of the Lord cannot change the Lord’s feelings toward such a person. Even an ordinary father or mother quickly excuses a momentary transgression by their child. Just as children and parents enjoy mutual love, the Lord’s surrendered servants enjoy a loving relationship with the Lord. An unpremeditated, accidental falldown is quickly excused by the Lord, and all members of society must share in the Lord’s own feelings, excusing such a sincere devotee. An advanced devotee should not be branded as materialistic or sinful because of accidental falldown. A devotee immediately returns to the platform of saintly service and begs the Lord’s forgiveness. However, one who permanently remains in a fallen condition can no longer be accepted as a highly elevated devotee of the Lord.