Text 56

 duhkhesv anudvigna-manah
sukhesu vigata-sprhah
vita-raga-bhaya-krodhah
sthita-dhir munir ucyate

Translation

One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The word muni means one who can agitate his mind in various ways for mental speculation without coming to a factual conclusion. It is said that every muni has a different angle of vision, and unless a muni differs from other munis, he cannot be called a muni in the strict sense of the term. Nasav rsir yasya matam na bhinnam (Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.117). But a sthita-dhir muni, as mentioned herein by the Lord, is different from an ordinary muni. The sthita-dhir muni is always in Krishna consciousness, for he has exhausted all his business of creative speculation. He is called prashanta-nihsesa-mano-rathantara (Stotra-ratna 43), or one who has surpassed the stage of mental speculations and has come to the conclusion that Lord Sri Krishna, or Vasudeva, is everything (vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah). He is called a muni fixed in mind. Such a fully Krishna conscious person is not at all disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries, for he accepts all miseries as the mercy of the Lord, thinking himself only worthy of more trouble due to his past misdeeds; and he sees that his miseries, by the grace of the Lord, are minimized to the lowest. Similarly, when he is happy he gives credit to the Lord, thinking himself unworthy of the happiness; he realizes that it is due only to the Lord’s grace that he is in such a comfortable condition and able to render better service to the Lord. And, for the service of the Lord, he is always daring and active and is not influenced by attachment or aversion. Attachment means accepting things for one’s own sense gratification, and detachment is the absence of such sensual attachment. But one fixed in Krishna consciousness has neither attachment nor detachment because his life is dedicated in the service of the Lord. Consequently he is not at all angry even when his attempts are unsuccessful. Success or no success, a Krishna conscious person is always steady in his determination.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

This verse and the next verse, the Lord answers the question "How does he speak?"

His mind is not disturbed by adhyatmika suffering in the form of hunger, thirst, fever, or headache, by the adhibhautika suffering coming from snakes or tigers, or by the adhidaivika suffering arising from extremes in wind or rain. When someone asks about himself, he says simply that this suffering is his prarabdha karma which he must unavoidably endure. He is not agitated with suffering (duhkhesv anudvigna manah). He does not say anything to himself or out loud to others. This absence of disgust at his situation is understood by the intelligent person to be the symptom of an undisturbed person. False indifference to suffering, the mark of the imposter, however, is understood by the wise man. Such a pretender is called fallen or depraved.

In the face of opportunities for happiness, he is without desire and says to himself or others that it is simply his prarabdha karma which he must tolerate. And the intelligent person recognizes his quality of being devoid of desire for happiness.

These qualities are made clearer. He is devoid of attachment to enjoyment (vita raga), devoid of fear from such things as tigers that want to eat him. He is devoid of anger towards friends who have attacked him. As an example, Jada Bharata in front of the Goddess Durga, did not show fear or anger towards the candala leader who wanted to kill him.