O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.

One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind. A devotee should not be aggrieved in an awkward position, nor should he feel extraordinarily happy in material opulence. This is the way of expert management of material life. Because a devotee knows how to manage expertly, he is called jivan-mukta. As Rupa Gosvami explains in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu:

A person acting in Krsna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krsna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within this material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities. Because of constantly engaging in devotional service, in any condition of life, a devotee is free from all material bondage.

Even one born in a family of meat-eaters is purified if he engages in devotional service. (Bhag. 11.14.21) Srila Jiva Gosvami cites this verse in logically supporting that anyone who chants about the pure life and activities of Prahlada Maharaja is freed from the reactions of material activities.