Unmoved by praise or blame, holding no fixed ground, resting in devotion: such a one is dear to the Lord.
Words of approval and disapproval usually pull us up into joy or down into grief. This verse names the one over whom they have lost that grip, quiet, content with whatever comes, unattached to any dwelling, his mind settled, and full of love.
Blame and praise are the same to him. He is quiet, content with whatever comes, holds no fixed home, and his mind is steady. Full of devotion, such a person is dear to me.
The reading read whole, as one unhurried piece
Where it stands
Krishna is still gathering the marks of the devotee he holds dear, a list that began at freedom from hatred toward any being. Here the list turns toward something almost everyone recognizes: how much of our peace depends on what other people say about us.
The teaching
Blame recounts your faults, praise lists your merits, and each ordinarily pulls the heart one way or the other. For the devotee described here, that pull is gone; he is neither lifted by approval nor lowered by disapproval. He is quiet, sparing of speech, and content with whatever comes to sustain him, seeking neither the better word to say nor the finer meal to eat. He holds no fixed dwelling he clings to, and his understanding stays rooted in the supreme reality, needing no outside argument to keep its footing. Full of devotion, he is dear to the Lord, and that word devotion is repeated here on purpose, closing the whole list with the one thing the commentators agree actually does the work: not the ascetic marks by themselves, but the love that holds them together. What is worth sitting with honestly is that the sources genuinely divide on how far to take the homelessness. Some read it as an actual, outer condition, the life of one who has renounced dwelling itself. Others read it as an inward loosening that can happen exactly where you already live. The verse does not choose for you.
The doubt that rises
Is this asking you to give up your home and settled life in fact, or only to loosen your grip on them while you stay exactly where you are? And either way, what would it take for you to notice, the next time praise or blame reaches you, that its pull depends on something in you that does not have to answer it?
Where the paths divide
Read by Shankara as the terse close of the renouncer's catalogue.
Shankara treats the verse almost as a checklist: blame and praise equal, restrained speech, contentment, homelessness, steady understanding, each given a spare definition and no more. His one substantial comment is structural, that this whole run of qualities, beginning at freedom from hatred toward any being, belongs to the imperishable-worshippers, the renouncers steadfast in the supreme truth, so that this verse gathers and seals what has already been taught rather than opening something new.
Read jointly with the previous verse, as one continuous statement.
Ramanuja folds this verse into a single thought with the one before it: because the mind is held steady in the self, it no longer clings even to a dwelling, and for the same reason honor and dishonor become equal too. His clearest emphasis, though, is a ranking: one settled in devotion to the Lord stands above one merely settled in the self. The outward marks may look alike, but for Ramanuja devotion is what makes the difference of order.
An honest gap in the record, not a suppressed position.
No comment from Madhva survives on this verse, and Jayatirtha is silent here too. What can be offered is only a clearly labeled extrapolation from his wider doctrine: such evenness and contentment would likely be read, on Dvaita principles, as marks of a soul rightly ordered toward total dependence on Hari, its steadiness a recognition of the Lord's supremacy rather than any self-sufficient calm. This is a reconstruction, not his stated word, and the difference matters.
Read from Abhinavagupta's one clearly surviving thread, on aniketa.
Abhinavagupta's words at this stretch of verses gloss homelessness as never locking onto the thought that any one act is his to do, taking pleasure and pain exactly as they arrive and savoring them that way, with the heart resting fully in the Lord who is the whole field of being. A Kashmir Shaiva extension of that thread would read evenness under praise and blame the same way, as different faces of a single recognition; but the source itself does not gloss those other terms, so this reading beyond aniketa is flagged as extrapolation.
Read in Sridhara's plain, term-by-term register.
Sridhara gives each word of the verse a direct equivalent, blame and praise alike, restrained speech, contentment with whatever has been gained, no fixed dwelling, a fully settled mind, without pressing any of it toward a doctrine of literal renunciation or of dependence. Devotion arrives at the close simply as what completes the list, the natural crown of the qualities just named rather than a claim requiring further defense.
Read through Madhusudana's precise account of the mechanism at work.
Madhusudana specifies that what sustains the devotee's body arrives through the force of past action already ripening, without effort on his part, which is why his contentment is freedom from longing rather than mere endurance of circumstance. He also makes explicit that devotion's repetition here, after it was already named earlier in this run of verses, is deliberate: it exists to make firm that devotion alone, not the ascetic marks by themselves, is the full and sufficient cause of release.
The sources agree on what the devotee's peace no longer depends on, other people's opinion, particular food or comfort, a fixed place. They do not agree on how far homelessness goes, whether it names an actual renunciation of dwelling or an inward loosening compatible with ordinary life, and on one acarya, Madhva, they are simply silent, leaving a real gap rather than a hidden consensus. This page keeps that gap open rather than filling it with invented certainty.
A question to carry
The next time praise lifts you or blame stings, can you catch the moment before you react, and notice that the pull exists only because some part of you is still keeping score of what others think?
Where this teaching travels
Verses that sit near this one, each going its own way; follow whichever calls you.
Let praise and blame come and go today like weather passing overhead. Rest instead in what does not shift with the world's opinion, and let that steadiness be the home you no longer need to defend.
Each school is voiced from the commentators named above. Their full words, every translation, and where the schools agree and differ wait in the reading desk just below. Open the commentary desk.
This closes the long list of the devotee's marks that began at freedom from hatred toward any being, turning now to how such a person stands toward other people's words, toward possessions, and toward the place he calls home.
Where they agreethe convergence
Across schools and centuries the commentators come to the same ground. These are the points they share, and the voices that hold each one.
Blame and praise no longer move him. Each ordinarily pulls the heart one way, but for him that pull is simply gone, and he is neither raised by approval nor lowered by disapproval.
Across Advaita, BhaktiŚaṅkara · Madhusūdana · ŚrīdharaIn Śaṅkara, Madhusūdana, and 1 others’ words
Blame and praise are alike to this devotee. Blame recounts a person's faults, praise lists their merits, and ordinarily each pulls the heart one way or the other; for this person that pull is simply gone. He is neither raised by approval nor lowered by disapproval, and the stillness runs in both directions at once.
He keeps his speech restrained and rests content with whatever the body's lot brings, seeking neither the better word nor the finer meal.
Across Advaita, BhaktiŚaṅkara · Madhusūdana · ŚrīdharaIn Śaṅkara, Madhusūdana, and 1 others’ words
He is mauni, of restrained speech, and content with whatever comes by any means. His contentment concerns the bare means of the body's upkeep, food and the like, taken as it arrives rather than sought out or improved upon. Speech and sustenance both stop being sites of striving.
His understanding stays rooted in the supreme reality, needing no outer proof or reassurance to hold its ground, whatever his outer circumstance.
Across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Kashmir ŚaivaŚaṅkara · Rāmānuja · Abhinavagupta · MadhusūdanaIn Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, and 2 others’ words
He is aniketa, without a fixed dwelling, and sthira-mati, of steady understanding. Whatever the exact scope given to homelessness, the steadiness of mind is read consistently as an awareness rooted in the supreme reality, one that no longer needs the reassurance of place, argument, or outer proof to hold its ground.
He holds no fixed clinging to any dwelling, whether that is read as an outer condition or as an inward release while ordinary life goes on.
Across AdvaitaŚaṅkara · MadhusūdanaIn Śaṅkara and Madhusūdana’s words
Full of devotion, such a person is dear to the Lord. The commentators who address this closing phrase directly treat the repetition of devotion, already named earlier in this stretch of verses, as deliberate: it is placed here to make firm that devotion is the sufficient and completing cause of what has just been described.
Devotion is named once more, deliberately, as the thread that ties every other mark together and completes what they alone could not.
Across Advaita, ViśiṣṭādvaitaŚaṅkara · RāmānujaIn Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja’s words
The verse is read, across the sources that comment at length, as a summation rather than a fresh introduction: it gathers up and seals the list of the devotee's marks that has been building since the qualities of freedom from hatred toward any being, rather than opening a new subject of its own.
This is the shared ground; it can be carried as it is. Below is where they differ.
Where they differthe divergence
Viśiṣṭādvaita, in their fuller words
Ramanuja folds this verse into a single continuous statement with the one before it: because the mind is held steady in the self, it no longer clings even to a dwelling, and honor and dishonor become equal for the same underlying reason. His one clearly stated point of emphasis is that devotion to the Lord surpasses mere steadiness in the self; the devotee described here stands a rung above the self-abiding sage, not merely alongside him.
Dvaita, in their fuller words
No comment from Madhva survives on this verse, and his sub-commentator Jayatirtha is silent here as well. Rather than invent a Dvaita voice, the honest report is the gap itself; what follows is a clearly labeled extrapolation only, not his stated word: on Madhva's wider doctrine, such evenness and contentment would likely be read as marks of a soul rightly ordered toward total dependence on Hari, with steadiness of mind meaning fixed recognition of the Lord's supremacy rather than any self-sufficiency.
Bhakti, in their fuller words
Sridhara moves through the verse term by term with almost no elaboration, letting each word carry its plain sense: blame and praise alike, restrained speech, contentment with whatever has been gained, no fixed dwelling, a fully settled mind. He does not press these terms toward a doctrine of renunciation or of dependence; devotion is simply named at the close as what completes the list and makes such a person dear to the Lord.
A modern reading, in their fuller words
Madhusudana specifies the mechanism behind the contentment described: what sustains the body arrives through the force of past action already ripening, without the devotee's own effort, so contentment is freedom from longing rather than mere resignation to circumstance. He also makes explicit that the closing mention of devotion is deliberate repetition, meant to establish that devotion alone, and not the list of ascetic qualities by itself, is the full and sufficient cause of release.
A few questions to carry
These ask for understanding, not recall; each answer is settled by the commentary itself.
For a second sitting
Carry this with youwhat stays
Notice, the next time praise or blame reaches you today, the small pull it exerts before you even decide to feel anything. That pull is the whole subject of this verse. You do not have to answer it by managing your face or your words; you only have to notice that it depends on some part of you still keeping score of what others say. Let the noticing itself be the practice, and see how much of your peace was never actually at stake.
Let praise and blame pass over you today like weather. Rest instead where they cannot reach, in the reality that does not change with what others say of you.
Read deeper
Everything a full study holds, folded below.
Word by word
All the commentary, woven together
The commentary, woven together
machine-assisted draft, pending review
Convergence
lame and praise are alike to this devotee. Blame recounts a person's faults, praise lists their merits, and ordinarily each pulls the heart one way or the other; for this person that pull is simply gone. He is neither raised by approval nor lowered by disapproval, and the stillness runs in both directions at once.
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrīdhara Svāmī
He is mauni, of restrained speech, and content with whatever comes by any means. His contentment concerns the bare means of the body's upkeep, food and the like, taken as it arrives rather than sought out or improved upon. Speech and sustenance both stop being sites of striving.
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī · Śrīdhara Svāmī
He is aniketa, without a fixed dwelling, and sthira-mati, of steady understanding. Whatever the exact scope given to homelessness, the steadiness of mind is read consistently as an awareness rooted in the supreme reality, one that no longer needs the reassurance of place, argument, or outer proof to hold its ground.
Śaṅkarācārya · Rāmānujācārya · Ācārya Abhinavagupta · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
Full of devotion, such a person is dear to the Lord. The commentators who address this closing phrase directly treat the repetition of devotion, already named earlier in this stretch of verses, as deliberate: it is placed here to make firm that devotion is the sufficient and completing cause of what has just been described.
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
The verse is read, across the sources that comment at length, as a summation rather than a fresh introduction: it gathers up and seals the list of the devotee's marks that has been building since the qualities of freedom from hatred toward any being, rather than opening a new subject of its own.
Śaṅkarācārya · Rāmānujācārya
Divergence
Advaita Vedānta
Shankara reads the whole verse as the closing seal on the catalogue of the imperishable-worshippers, the renouncers steadfast in the supreme truth begun at 'hating no being.' Each mark, evenness under praise and blame, restrained speech, contentment, homelessness, steady understanding, describes the knower who has already renounced action and settled into knowledge of Brahman; nothing new is being taught here so much as gathered and confirmed.
Śaṅkarācārya
Viśiṣṭādvaita
Ramanuja folds this verse into a single continuous statement with the one before it: because the mind is held steady in the self, it no longer clings even to a dwelling, and honor and dishonor become equal for the same underlying reason. His one clearly stated point of emphasis is that devotion to the Lord surpasses mere steadiness in the self; the devotee described here stands a rung above the self-abiding sage, not merely alongside him.
Rāmānujācārya
Dvaita
No comment from Madhva survives on this verse, and his sub-commentator Jayatirtha is silent here as well. Rather than invent a Dvaita voice, the honest report is the gap itself; what follows is a clearly labeled extrapolation only, not his stated word: on Madhva's wider doctrine, such evenness and contentment would likely be read as marks of a soul rightly ordered toward total dependence on Hari, with steadiness of mind meaning fixed recognition of the Lord's supremacy rather than any self-sufficiency.
Madhvācārya
Kashmir Śaiva
Abhinavagupta's surviving words at this stretch of verses address aniketa directly: never locking onto the thought that any one thing is his to do, taking pleasure and pain exactly as they come, resting in the Lord who is the whole field of being. On a Kashmir Shaiva extension of that one clear thread, evenness under praise and blame and contentment with whatever comes would be different faces of the same recognition, that the self already rests in a fullness that makes clinging to any single outcome unnecessary; but this is flagged as extension, since his text does not gloss the other terms one by one.
Ācārya Abhinavagupta
Bhakti
Sridhara moves through the verse term by term with almost no elaboration, letting each word carry its plain sense: blame and praise alike, restrained speech, contentment with whatever has been gained, no fixed dwelling, a fully settled mind. He does not press these terms toward a doctrine of renunciation or of dependence; devotion is simply named at the close as what completes the list and makes such a person dear to the Lord.
Śrīdhara Svāmī
Modern
Madhusudana specifies the mechanism behind the contentment described: what sustains the body arrives through the force of past action already ripening, without the devotee's own effort, so contentment is freedom from longing rather than mere resignation to circumstance. He also makes explicit that the closing mention of devotion is deliberate repetition, meant to establish that devotion alone, and not the list of ascetic qualities by itself, is the full and sufficient cause of release.
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
A Seeker Asks
Is this verse asking me to actually walk away from my home and settled life, or only to stop clinging to them while I stay exactly where I am?
Shankara reads the devotee described here as the knower-renouncer whose homelessness caps a life already given to knowledge of the supreme truth; on that reading the verse's aniketa describes an outer as well as inner condition, not a metaphor for something else.
Śaṅkarācārya
But nothing in Ramanuja, Sridhara, or Madhusudana's own words forces the same conclusion for every reader. Ramanuja ties homelessness to a mind steadied in the self rather than to a change of address, and Sridhara glosses the word plainly without building a doctrine of literal wandering on top of it.
Rāmānujācārya · Śrīdhara Svāmī
What the sources agree on, whatever their scope for the word, is the inward mark being praised: a heart that does not lean on its place, its comforts, or its reputation for its footing. Whether that shows up as an actual change in your dwelling or as a change in how you hold the one you already have is a question this verse leaves for you to answer in your own life, not one it settles for you.
Śaṅkarācārya · Madhusūdana Sarasvatī
Contemplation
Notice, the next time praise or blame reaches you today, the small pull it exerts before you even decide to feel anything. That pull is the whole subject of this verse. You do not have to answer it by managing your face or your words; you only have to notice that it depends on some part of you still keeping score of what others say. Let the noticing itself be the practice, and see how much of your peace was never actually at stake.
Sit with this · sonnet-5-authored
All the translations and commentary
Pull up a chair.
You have come to sit with this verse. When you are ready to hear the translators and the commentators in full, open a tradition in the doorways below, or add a voice by name above.
Also hear this verse, tradition by tradition.