Verses 58–62 · Conclusion
Verse 60 — Depend on the World for Everything but Happiness
The world can give everything except happiness.
Brother! This perceived world of experiences is but an idle projection of Maya — not real. Renouncing all identification with it, turn to Me alone with a purified heart. May you thus become ever-blissful, with no restless sorrows, continuously happy. [Verse 60]
This verse gives the seeker's "project" in one crisp, life-changing instruction about where to look for happiness.
First, see the world clearly
Key idea. The perceived world is Maya — and Maya is fundamentally incapable of giving lasting peace, security, and fulfilment. Use the world for everything else — a house, a coffee, a career — but not for those three. For peace, security, and happiness, depend on the Lord (or, in philosophical language, the higher Self).
The distinction is surgical:
| The world can give you... | The world cannot give you... |
|---|---|
| A house, food, comforts, work | Lasting happiness |
| Objects and situations | Peace, security, fulfilment |
flowchart LR
A[For objects & comforts] --> W[Depend on the world<br/>— and be free]
B[For peace, security, happiness] --> S[Depend on the Lord / the Self]The instruction
| Step | Sanskrit | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Drop emotional dependence on creation | Aham parihritya sarvam chetasa | Cultivate discrimination and dispassion (viveka, vairagya) |
| Turn to the Lord with a purified mind | Mad-bhavana bhavita shuddha-manasa | Purify the mind (through saguna devotion) so it can absorb the teaching like a sponge |
| Become happy | Sukhi bhava | Through shravana, manana, nididhyasana |
| Free of sorrow | Nir-amaya | No restless pain |
| Utterly full | Poorna-rupa | Total satisfaction |
The crucial shift in phrasing
Never again say "I am unhappy because of my family / my boss / my situation." The realized attitude is: "I am happy — not because of my situation, but in spite of it."
The jnani stays relaxed in both favourable and unfavourable conditions — like the sun, which shows the same crimson colour at both sunrise and sunset. That steadiness is moksha, described here as the removal of sorrow and the gaining of happiness (dukha-nivritti, sukha-prapti). Verse 61 promises that this practice — whether through the formless or the form — transforms the seeker into the Divine itself.