Verses 10.4-5

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verses 10.4-5:

बुद्धिर् ज्ञानम् असम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः ।
सुखं दुःखं भवोऽभावो भयं चाभयम् एव च ॥ ४ ॥
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस् तपो दानं यशोऽयशः ।
भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्-विधाः ॥ ५ ॥

buddhir jñānam asammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ damaḥ śamaḥ |
sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ bhavo'bhāvo bhayaṃ cābhayam eva ca || 4 ||
ahiṃsā samatā tuṣṭis tapo dānaṃ yaśo'yaśaḥ |
bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṃ matta eva pṛthag-vidhāḥ || 5 ||

buddhiḥ–the ability to discern subtle meanings; jñānam–the knowledge to distinguish between matter and spirit; asammohaḥ–absence of per turbation; kṣamā–tolerance; satyam–speaking the truth; damaḥ–control over the external organs; śamaḥ–control of the mind; sukham–happiness;duḥkham–unhappiness; bhavaḥ–birth; abhāvaḥ–death; bhayam–fear; ca abhayam–and fearlessness; eva–certainly; ca–and; ahiṃsā–non-violence; samatā–equanimity; tuṣṭiḥ–satisfaction; tapaḥ–accepting bodily austerities as directed in the Vedas and their corollary literatures; dānam–charity; yaśaḥ–fame; ayaśaḥ–infamy; bhavanti–exist; bhāvāḥ–states of being; bhūtānām–of the living beings; mattaḥ–from Me;eva–solely; pṛthak-vidhāḥ–various kinds.

Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from anxiety, tolerance, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and criticism–all these diverse qualities of the living beings originate from Me.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

“Those with knowledge of the Vedic scriptures are unable to comprehend Me simply on the strength of their own intelligence. Intelligence comes from Me alone, and it is produced from the mode of goodness, sattva-guṇa, which is within My material energy. It has no independent qualification to penetrate and understand tattva of Me which is guṇātīta, beyond the modes.”

It is for this reason that Śrī Bhagavān says, “There are three qualities that could indirectly cause one to acquire knowledge of Me: the ability to ascertain subtle meanings (buddhi), discrimination between conscious and unconscious objects (jñānam) and the absence of anxiety (asammohaḥ). But these three are not the direct cause of acquiring knowledge of Me. And in this context, the other qualities seen in people are also not independent of Me.”

Śrī Bhagavān further states, “Tolerance (kṣamā), truthfulness (satya), control of the external senses (dama) and control of the mind (śama) all arise from the mode of goodness. Happiness (sukha) is in the mode of goodness and misery (duḥkha) is in the mode of ignorance. Birth and death (bhavo’bhāvo) are a special type of misery, and fear is in the mode of ignorance. Fearlessness arising from knowledge is in the mode of goodness, but if it is born from the mode of passion (rajo-guṇa) then it is rājasika. Samatā means ‘to see equally the happiness and distress of others as one’s own’. Equanimity (samatā) and non-violence (ahiṃsā) are born from the mode of goodness. Satisfaction (tuṣṭi) is sāttvika, in the mode of goodness, if it is free from illusion. If not, then it is the mode of passion. When a person is free from illusion, or the feeling that he is the doer, his performance of austerity (tapa) and charity (dāna) are in the mode of goodness. If performed by one who is under illusion, they are in the mode of passion. Fame (yaśaḥ) and infamy (ayaśaḥ) should be understood in the same manner. They have all originated from My illusory potency called māyā, but since śakti (the energy) and śaktimān (the energetic) are non-different, it should be understood that they are created by Me alone.”

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Here it is being established that Bhagavān alone is the primeval, original cause and the controller of everyone. Everything inert or conscious is related to Him by dint of the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva–the fundamental principle of inconceivable oneness and difference between Bhagavān and His multifarious potencies.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “Even those people of fine intelligence who know the śāstra cannot comprehend My tattva. The reason why is as follows: The characteristics of the living entities include intelligence, which has the ability to grasp subtle subjects, the ability to discriminate between that which is conscious and that which is not, freedom from anxiety, tolerance, truthfulness, control of the senses and the mind, happiness, distress, birth, death, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy. I am aloof from them all, although I am their original cause. After knowing My acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, the fundamental principle of inconceivable oneness and difference between Bhagavān and His multifarious potencies, nothing remains to be known. Śakti (energy) and śaktimān (the energetic) are both non-different and different. Similarly I, śaktimān, and everything in this ever-changing world, which has emanated from My energy, are different yet eternally non-different.”