Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa continues describing the parā-bhakta, the mature devotee who has gained inner strength through knowledge and spiritual maturity. This verse focuses on freedom from emotional extremes.

The words na hṛṣyati and na śocati should be understood together. The devotee is not overpowered by elation when favorable situations come, and is not overpowered by depression when unfavorable situations come. Happiness and disturbance may naturally arise, but they do not become so intense that they cloud viveka, the discriminative faculty.

Similarly, na dveṣṭi and na kāṅkṣati go together. The devotee is free from binding dveṣa and binding rāga. Dveṣa is strong aversion, the tendency to reject, hate, or resist what is unpleasant. Kāṅkṣā is craving, the mind’s insistence that something must come for me to be complete. The parā-bhakta may function in the world, but is not inwardly ruled by these two forces.

The phrase śubhāśubhaparityāgī means one who has given up both auspicious and inauspicious as binding pursuits. This does not mean such a person avoids noble action. Noble actions may still be done, but not for the sake of collecting puṇya or gaining a better future experience. Puṇya and pāpa both keep one connected to saṁsāra. Puṇya is like a smiling binding force; pāpa is like a frowning binding force. The mature devotee does not act for either. Noble actions are done for citta-śuddhi, jñāna-niṣṭhā, dharma, or loka-saṅgraha, not for personal karmic acquisition.

Such a devotee is bhaktimān — endowed with mature devotion. This devotion is not emotional dependence. It is the devotion of one whose mind has become steady, whose reactions do not overpower viveka, and whose actions are free from binding self-interest. Such a devotee is dear to Bhagavān.