In plain words
Having become Brahman, serene in self, one neither grieves nor desires. Equal toward all beings, one attains supreme Bhakti to Me.
Word for word
Having become Brahman, serene within, he neither grieves nor desires; equal towards all beings, he gains supreme devotion to Me.
The commentators
Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
अनेन क्रमेण —
ब्रह्मभूतः ब्रह्मप्राप्तः प्रसन्नात्मा लब्धाध्यात्मप्रसादस्वभावः न शोचति, किञ्चित् अर्थवैकल्यम् आत्मनः वैगुण्यं वा उद्दिश्य न शोचति न सन्तप्यते ; न काङ्क्षति, न हि अप्राप्तविषयाकाङ्क्षा ब्रह्मविदः उपपद्यते ; अतः ब्रह्मभूतस्य अयं स्वभावः अनूद्यते — न शोचति न काङ्क्षति इति । ‘न हृष्यति’ इति वा पाठान्तरम् । समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु, आत्मौपम्येन सर्वभूतेषु सुखं दुःखं वा सममेव पश्यति इत्यर्थः । न आत्मसमदर्शनम् इह, तस्य वक्ष्यमाणत्वात् ‘भक्त्या मामभिजानाति’(भ. गी. १८ । ५५) इति । एवंभूतः ज्ञाननिष्ठः, मद्भक्तिं मयि परमेश्वरे भक्तिं भजनं पराम् उत्तमां ज्ञानलक्षणां चतुर्थीं लभते, ‘चतुर्विधा भजन्ते माम्’(भ. गी. ७ । १६) इति हि उक्तम् ॥ ५४ ॥
In plain words
Following this very sequence, step by step —
'Brahmabhūta' means one who has actually attained Brahman; 'prasannātmā' means one whose very nature has settled into inner clarity — such a person simply does not grieve, whether over some lack of possessions or some flaw in himself; he is never distressed. Nor does he crave anything — because a knower of Brahman simply cannot crave what he has not yet attained. So this verse is not giving a new instruction; it is just describing what naturally follows: 'he does not grieve, he does not desire.' Some texts read 'he does not rejoice' instead — a variant reading. 'Equal toward all beings' means: measuring by his own experience, he sees happiness and suffering the same way in every being — that is the meaning. This is not yet the deeper vision of true oneness with the Self; that is coming later, in the words 'through devotion he comes to know Me' (Bhagavad Gita 18.55). A person like this, steadfast in knowledge, attains devotion to Me — devotion, loving worship, of Me, the Supreme Lord — the highest, supreme kind, inseparable from knowledge itself, the fourth of the kinds Krishna already named: 'fourfold are those who worship Me' (Bhagavad Gita 7.16).
Close to the Sanskrit
By this, in due order —
'Brahmabhūta' means one who has attained Brahman; 'prasannātmā' means one whose very nature has attained inner clarity — he does not grieve, with reference to any deficiency of an object or any defect of his own, he does not grieve, that is, he is not distressed. He does not desire; for indeed, craving for an unattained object is not possible for a knower of Brahman. Therefore, this is the natural characteristic of one who has become Brahman, being restated — 'he does not grieve, he does not desire' — thus. 'He does not rejoice' — this, alternatively, is a variant reading. 'Equal toward all beings' means: by comparison with himself, he sees happiness or suffering equally in all beings — this is the meaning. It is not the vision of sameness with the Self that is meant here, because that is going to be stated later: 'through devotion he comes to know Me' (Bhagavad Gītā 18.55). One who is thus qualified, steadfast in knowledge, attains devotion to Me — that is, devotion, loving service, to Me, the Supreme Lord — the supreme, highest, fourth kind, characterized by knowledge — for indeed it has been said: 'fourfold are those who worship Me' (Bhagavad Gītā 7.16).