He who is the same towards friend and foe, and also in honour and dishonour, the same in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and free from attachment (Bhagavad Gita Chapter XII – Verse 18).
He, with whom praise and censure are both alike, who is silent and contented with everything, who is homeless and steady-minded he who is thus devoted to Me is dear to Me. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter XII – Verse 19).
This is the holy life of the sannyasin, whose soul is raised beyond the realm of matter. Friends and foes even the holiest man will have. Krishna was assailed by his foes time and again. But they blessed their enemies. The holy man feels no animosity towards any one. He knows that it is through ignorance that man is hostile towards him.
Chaitanya embraced the vicious brothers who came to abuse him. Friend and foe are the same to a godly man, and also honor and dishonor. Not that he will engage in dishonorable dealings, not that he will act so that people are justified in dishonoring him, but if doing what he considers right people criticize from their worldly stand point, when he is blamed for doing what he considers to be his duty, then he remains unmoved just as he remains unmoved when he is praised or honored.
Shukadeva, the son of the world-renowned pundit and sage Vyasa, remained perfectly calm and unmoved when he met with disrespectful treatment at the court of King Janaka. And just as unmoved was he when the king bestowed on him the greatest honor, when the king gave him a princely reception.
Cold and heat, pleasure and pain come to everyone. But the sannyasin realizes that these conditions belong to the body, and takes refuge in the Spirit. These conditions do not affect him. He is contented with everything. Any food or dress or habitation he accepts without murmur or complaint. He knows when to be silent. He is full of devotion. His thought is steadily fixed on the supreme Reality.