ŚB 11.11.

29-32
श्रीभगवानुवाच
कृपालरु कृतद्रोहस्तितिक्षु: सर्वदे हिनाम ् ।
सत्यसारोऽनवद्यात्मा सम: सर्वोपकारक: ॥ २९ ॥
कामैरहतधीर्दान्तो मद
ृ :ु शुचिरकिञ्चन: ।
अनीहो मितभक
ु ् शान्त: स्थिरो मच्छरणो मनि
ु : ॥ ३० ॥
अप्रमत्तो गभीरात्मा धति
ृ माञ्जितषड्‍गुण: ।
अमानी मानद: कल्यो मैत्र: कारुणिक: कवि: ॥ ३१ ॥
आज्ञायैवं गण
ु ान ् दोषान ् मयादिष्टानपि स्वकान ् ।
धर्मान ् सन्त्यज्य य: सर्वान ् मां भजेत स तु सत्तम: ॥ ३२ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kṛpālur akṛta-drohas
titikṣuḥ sarva-dehinām
satya-sāro ’navadyātmā
samaḥ sarvopakārakaḥ

kāmair ahata-dhīr dānto

mṛduḥ śucir akiñcanaḥ
anīho mita-bhuk śāntaḥ
sthiro mac-charaṇo muniḥ

apramatto gabhīrātmā
dhṛtimāñ jita-ṣaḍ-guṇaḥ
amānī māna-daḥ kalyo
maitraḥ kāruṇikaḥ kaviḥ

ājñāyaivaṁ guṇān doṣān

mayādiṣṭān api svakān
 dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān
māṁ bhajeta sa tu sattamaḥ
Synonyms
śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; kṛpāluḥ —
unable to tolerate the suffering of others; akṛta-drohaḥ — never injuring
others; titikṣuḥ — forgiving; sarva-dehinām — toward all living
entities; satya-sāraḥ — one who lives by truth and whose strength and
firmness come from truthfulness; anavadya-ātmā — a soul free from envy,
jealousy, etc.; samaḥ — whose consciousness is equal both in happiness and
in distress; sarva-upakārakaḥ — always endeavoring as far as possible for
the welfare of all others; kāmaiḥ — by material desires; ahata —
undisturbed; dhīḥ — whose intelligence; dāntaḥ — controlling the external
senses; mṛduḥ — without a harsh mentality; śuciḥ — always well-
behaved; akiñcanaḥ — without possessiveness; anīhaḥ — free from worldly
activities; mita-bhuk — eating austerely; śāntaḥ — controlling the
mind; sthiraḥ — remaining steady in one’s prescribed duty; mat-śaraṇaḥ —
accepting Me as the only shelter; muniḥ — thoughtful; apramattaḥ —
cautious and sober; gabhīra-ātmā — not superficial, and thus
unchanging; dhṛti-mān — not weak or miserable even in distressing
circumstances; jita — having conquered; ṣaṭ-guṇaḥ — the six material
qualities, namely hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and
death; amānī — without desire for prestige; māna-daḥ — offering all
respects to others; kalyaḥ — expert in reviving the Kṛṣṇa consciousness of
others; maitraḥ — never cheating anyone, and thus a true
friend; kāruṇikaḥ — acting always due to compassion, not personal
ambition; kaviḥ — completely learned; ājñāya — knowing; evam —
thus; guṇān — good qualities; doṣān — bad qualities; mayā — by
Me; ādiṣṭān — taught; api — even; svakān — one’s own; dharmān —
religious principles; santyajya — giving up; yaḥ — one who; sarvān —
all; mām — Me; bhajeta — worships; saḥ — he; tu — indeed; sat-tamaḥ —
the best among saintly persons.
 Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Uddhava, a saintly person
is merciful and never injures others. Even if others are aggressive he is
tolerant and forgiving toward all living entities. His strength and
meaning in life come from the truth itself, he is free from all envy and
jealousy, and his mind is equal in material happiness and distress. Thus,
he dedicates his time to work for the welfare of all others. His
intelligence is never bewildered by material desires, and he has
controlled his senses. His behavior is always pleasing, never harsh and
always exemplary, and he is free from possessiveness. He never
endeavors in ordinary, worldly activities, and he strictly controls his
eating. He therefore always remains peaceful and steady. A saintly
person is thoughtful and accepts Me as his only shelter. Such a person is
very cautious in the execution of his duties and is never subject to
superficial transformations, because he is steady and noble, even in a
distressing situation. He has conquered over the six material qualities —
namely hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death. He is free
from all desire for prestige and offers honor to others. He is expert in
reviving the Kṛṣṇa consciousness of others and therefore never cheats
anyone. Rather, he is a well-wishing friend to all, being most merciful.
Such a saintly person must be considered the most learned of men. He
perfectly understands that the ordinary religious duties prescribed by
Me in various Vedic scriptures possess favorable qualities that purify the
performer, and he knows that neglect of such duties constitutes a
discrepancy in one’s life. Having taken complete shelter at My lotus feet,
however, a saintly person ultimately renounces such ordinary religious
duties and worships Me alone. He is thus considered to be the best
among all living entities.
Purport
Verses 29-31 describe twenty-eight qualities of a saintly person, and verse 32
explains the highest perfection of life. According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the seventeenth quality (mat-śaraṇa, or taking complete
shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa) is the most important, and the other twenty-seven
qualities automatically appear in one who has become a pure devotee of the
Lord. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.18.12), yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty
akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ. The twenty-eight saintly
qualities may be described as follows.

(1) Kṛpālu. A devotee cannot tolerate seeing the world merged in ignorance

and suffering the whiplashes of māyā. Therefore he busily engages in
distributing Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is called kṛpālu, or merciful.

(2) Akṛta-droha. Even if someone is offensive toward a devotee, a devotee

does not become offensive in return. Indeed, he never acts against the interest
of any living entity. One may argue that great Vaiṣṇava kings, such as
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Parīkṣit Mahārāja, executed many criminals.
However, when justice is properly administered by the state, sinful,
destructive persons actually benefit from their punishment because they
become freed from the severe karmic reactions to their illicit activities. A
Vaiṣṇava ruler gives punishment not out of envy or malice, but in faithful
obedience to the laws of God. The Māyāvādī philosophers who want to kill
God by imagining that He does not exist are certainly kṛta-droha, or most
injurious to themselves and others. The impersonalist imagines that he
himself is supreme and thus creates a most dangerous situation for himself
and his followers. Similarly, the karmīs, who are dedicated to material sense
gratification, are also killers of the self, because by their absorption in
material consciousness they lose all chance of experiencing the Absolute
Truth and the truth of their own self. Therefore, all living entities who come
under the control of materialistic regulations and duties are unnecessarily
harassing themselves and others, and a pure Vaiṣṇava feels great compassion
and concern for them. A devotee never uses his mind, body or words to
perform any act harmful to the welfare of any living entity.
(3) Titikṣu. A devotee forgives and forgets any offense against himself. A
Vaiṣṇava is personally detached from his material body, which is made of
pus, stool, blood, and so on. Therefore the devotee is able to overlook the
obnoxious behavior he sometimes meets with in the course of preaching
work and always deals with people as a perfect gentleman. A Vaiṣṇava
loudly chants the holy name of the Lord and tolerates and forgives those
fallen conditioned souls who are unable to reciprocate properly with a pure
devotee.

(4) Satya-sāra. A devotee always remembers that he is the eternal servant of

the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is omniscient, the reservoir of all
pleasure and the ultimate enjoyer of all activities. By avoiding activities
outside devotional service, a devotee remains fixed in the truth, does not
uselessly waste time and thus becomes bold, powerful and steady.

(5) Anavadyātmā. A devotee knows that the material world is a temporary

phantasmagoria and therefore does not envy anyone in any material situation.
He never tries to agitate others or criticize them unnecessarily.

(6) Sama. A devotee remains steady and equal in material happiness or

distress, fame or infamy. His actual wealth is his consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, and
he understands that his real self-interest lies outside the scope of material
nature. He does not become excited or depressed by external events, but
remains fixed in consciousness of the omnipotency of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

(7) Sarvopakāraka. Neglecting one’s selfish desires and working for the

satisfaction of others is called paropakāra, whereas causing trouble to others
for one’s personal gratification is called parāpakāra. A devotee always
works for the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the resting place of all living
entities, and thus a devotee’s activities are ultimately pleasing to everyone.
Devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa is the perfectional stage of welfare work,
since Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller of everyone’s happiness and
distress. Foolish persons under the influence of false egotism, considering
themselves to be the ultimate well-wishers of others, execute superficial
materialistic activities rather than attending to the eternal happiness of others.
Because a devotee remains pure and engages in missionary activities, he is
everyone’s best friend.

(8) Kāmair ahata-dhī. Ordinary persons see all material things as objects for

their personal gratification and thus try to acquire or control them. Ultimately
a man wants to possess a woman and enjoy sex gratification with her. The
Supreme Lord supplies the desired fuel that causes the fire of lust to burn
painfully in one’s heart, but the Lord does not give self-realization to such a
misguided person. Lord Kṛṣṇa is transcendental and neutral, but if one is
eager to exploit the Lord’s creation, the Lord gives one facility
through māyā, and one becomes cheated of real happiness by entangling
himself in the false role of a great and lusty enjoyer of the world. On the
other hand, one who has taken full shelter of Kṛṣṇa is enriched with perfect
knowledge and bliss and is not cheated by the seductive appearances of the
material world. A pure devotee does not follow the path of the foolish deer,
which is seduced by the hunter’s horn and killed. A devotee is never attracted
by the sensuous entreaties of a beautiful woman, and he avoids hearing from
bewildered karmīs about the so-called glories of material acquisition.
Similarly, a pure devotee is not bewildered by aroma or taste. He does not
become attached to sumptuous eating, nor does he spend the whole day
making arrangements for bodily comfort. The only actual enjoyer of God’s
creation is the Lord Himself, and the living entities are secondary enjoyers
who experience unlimited pleasure through the Lord’s pleasure. This perfect
process of experiencing pleasure is called bhakti-yoga, or pure devotional
service, and a devotee never sacrifices his auspicious position of steady
intelligence, even in the face of so-called material opportunity.

(9) Dānta. A devotee is naturally repelled by sinful activities and controls his

senses by dedicating all his acts to Kṛṣṇa. This requires steady concentration
and a cautious mentality.

(10) Mṛdu. A materialistic person will always see people as friends or

enemies and thus will sometimes justify cruel or small-minded behavior in
order to subdue his opponents. Since a devotee has taken shelter of Lord
Kṛṣṇa, he does not consider anyone his enemy and is never disturbed by the
tendency to desire or enjoy the suffering of others. Thus he is mṛdu, or gentle
and sublime.

(11) Śuci. A devotee never touches that which is impure or improper, and

simply by remembering such a pure devotee, one is freed from the tendency
to sin. Because of his perfect behavior, a devotee is called śuci, or pure.

(12) Akiñcana. A devotee is free from possessiveness and is not eager to

enjoy or renounce anything, since he considers everything to be Lord Kṛṣṇa’s
property.

(13) Anīha. A devotee never acts on his own behalf, but rather for the service
of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is therefore aloof from ordinary, worldly affairs.

(14) Mita-bhuk. A devotee accepts material sense objects only as far as

necessary, to keep himself healthy and fit in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s service. He is
therefore not entangled by his sense activities and never injures his self-
realization. When necessary, a devotee can give up anything for Lord Kṛṣṇa’s
service, but he does not accept or reject anything for his personal prestige.

(15) Śānta. Those trying to exploit the Lord’s creation are always disturbed.

A devotee, however, is detached from such pointless activities and
understands sense gratification to be diametrically opposed to his self-
interest. Being always engaged according to the Lord’s desire, he remains
peaceful.

(16) Sthira. Remembering that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the basis of everything, a

devotee does not become fearful or impatient.

(17) Mat-śaraṇa. A devotee does not take pleasure in anything except

serving Lord Kṛṣṇa and is constantly attentive in the execution of his duties.
A devotee knows that only Lord Kṛṣṇa can protect him and engage him in
useful work.
(18) Muni. A devotee is thoughtful and through intelligent contemplation
avoids becoming distracted from his spiritual advancement. By intelligence
he is freed from doubts about Lord Kṛṣṇa and confronts all problems in life
with steady Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

(19) Apramatta. One who forgets the Supreme Lord is more or less crazy, but
a devotee remains sane by offering his activities to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

(20) Gabhīrātmā. As a devotee merges into the ocean of Kṛṣṇa

consciousness, his own consciousness becomes deeper and deeper; ordinary,
superficial persons hovering on the material platform cannot fathom the
extent of a devotee’s awareness.

(21) Dhṛtimān. By controlling the urges of the tongue and genitals the

devotee remains steady and patient and does not impulsively change his
position.

(22) Jita-ṣaḍ-guṇa. By spiritual knowledge, a devotee is able to conquer the

pushings of hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death.

(23) Amānī. A devotee is not puffed up, and even if he is famous, he does not
take such fame very seriously.

(24) Māna-da. A devotee offers all respects to others, since everyone is part

and parcel of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

(25) Kalya. A devotee is expert in making people understand the truth of

Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

(26) Maitra. A devotee does not cheat anyone by encouraging them in the

bodily concept of life; rather, by his missionary work a devotee is the true
friend of everyone.

(27) Kāruṇika. A devotee tries to make people sane and thus is most

merciful. He is para-duḥkha-duḥkhī, or one who is unhappy to see the
unhappiness of others.
(28) Kavi. A devotee is expert in studying the transcendental qualities of
Lord Kṛṣṇa and is able to show the harmony and compatibility of the Lord’s
apparently contradictory qualities. This is possible through expert knowledge
of the absolute nature of the Lord. Lord Caitanya is softer than a rose and
harder than a thunderbolt, but these opposing qualities can easily be
understood in terms of the Lord’s transcendental nature and purpose. One
who is always able to understand the truth of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without
opposition or confusion, is called kavi, or most learned.

The position of those on the spiritual path can be understood in terms of their
development of the qualities mentioned above. Ultimately, the most
important quality is to take shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa, since the Lord can award
all good qualities to His sincere devotee. In the lowest stage of devotional
service one acts with a desire to enjoy sense gratification but at the same time
tries to offer the fruits to the Lord. This stage is called karma-miśrā
bhakti. As one gradually purifies himself in devotional service, he becomes
detached through knowledge and gains relief from anxiety. In this stage he
becomes attached to transcendental knowledge, and therefore this stage is
called jñāna-miśrā bhakti, or devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa with a desire
to enjoy the fruits of transcendental knowledge. But because pure love for
Kṛṣṇa is actually the greatest happiness and the natural position of the living
entity, a sincere devotee gradually overcomes his desire to enjoy sense
gratification and knowledge and comes to the stage of pure devotional
service, which is devoid of personal desire. Na karmāṇi tyajed yogī
karmabhis tyajyate hi saḥ: “The yogī should not give up his work, but rather
should cultivate detachment by which his material activities will
automatically vanish.” In other words, one should continue to perform one’s
prescribed duties, even imperfectly. If one is sincere about advancing in
Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then by the strength of bhakti-yoga his activities will
gradually be transformed into pure loving service.

There are innumerable examples of fruitive workers, mental speculators and

materialistic devotees who became perfect by the strength of devotional
service. By rendering loving service to Kṛṣṇa, one automatically experiences
the greatest pleasure of life and is endowed with perfect knowledge. There is
nothing lacking in the process of pure devotional service, and there is no
need for any extraneous endeavor to acquire sense pleasure or philosophical
satisfaction. One must be completely convinced that simply by serving Kṛṣṇa
one will get all perfection in life. Even if one lacks some or all of the above-
mentioned qualities, one should sincerely engage in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s service,
and gradually one’s character will become perfect. One who is a sincere
devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa will develop all godly qualities by the mercy of the
Lord, and one who is already serving the Lord with the above-mentioned
qualities is to be understood as the greatest devotee. As indicated in verse 32,
a pure devotee of the Lord is fully aware of the pious advantages of
executing duties within the varṇāśrama system, and he is similarly aware of
the harmful mistake of neglecting such duties. Still, having full faith in the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, a devotee gives up all ordinary social and
religious activities and engages fully in devotional service. He knows that
Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate source of everything and that all perfection comes
from Lord Kṛṣṇa alone. Because of his extraordinary faith, the devotee is
called sattama, or the best among all living beings.

As explained by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in Upadeśāmṛta, a devotee who has not

yet developed the good qualities mentioned above but is nevertheless
sincerely endeavoring for Kṛṣṇa consciousness should receive the mercy of
superior Vaiṣṇavas. One should not necessarily accept intimate association
with such an aspirant to pure devotional service, but one should be confident
that by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa such a person will eventually attain
all perfection. One can imagine the beauty of a society filled with saintly
persons, as described in these verses. The wonderful Kṛṣṇa conscious
qualities mentioned above are the basis of a peaceful and prosperous society,
and if everyone takes to the loving service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, then certainly the
present atmosphere of fear, violence, lust, greed and insanity can be replaced
by a celestial situation in which all leaders and citizens will be happy. The
essential points here are mat-śaraṇa (“one should take full shelter of Lord
Kṛṣṇa”) and māṁ bhajeta (“one should worship the Lord through the
authorized process”). In this way the entire world can become sattama, or
most perfect.

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