सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु |
साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते || 9||
suhṛin-mitrāryudāsīna-madhyastha-dveṣhya-bandhuṣhu
sādhuṣhvapi cha pāpeṣhu sama-buddhir viśhiṣhyate
su-hṛit—toward the well-wishers; mitra—friends; ari—enemies; udāsīna—neutral persons; madhya-stha—mediators; dveṣhya—the envious; bandhuṣhu—relatives; sādhuṣhu—pious; api—as well as; cha—and; pāpeṣhu—the sinners; sama-buddhiḥ—of impartial intellect; viśhiṣhyate—is distinguished
Translation:
He who is equal-minded towards the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, neutrals, haters, relations, towards the righteous and also the wicked, excels.
Commentary:
Different categories of men are described here. Some people help without expecting any return, others do so for mutual benefit. There are positively inimical people who may hate others and try to injure them in every possible way. Others are indifferent, and some others are neutral. Thus we come across different categories of people with different attitudes. The Yogi is equal-minded towards all these people. Towards the righteous and the unrighteous also he is equal-minded.
How is he able to maintain this equality of vision? It is clear that all these distinctions arise with reference to the ego which has identified itself with the body. The ego-centric man is constantly reactionary to people according to their attitude towards him. If they are friends, he like them. If they are harmful foes, he hates them. It is the bodily outlook (dehadrishti) that is the cause of all those distinctions. For the man who has transcended the ego-idea, all that exists is only the Self and nothing else. He has realised the Self and he looks upon every thing with ‘Atmic bhava‘. It is the duty of all seekers to cultivate the ‘Atma-drishti’ in all things and kill the differentiation.
Question: Who among the yogis excels?
Answer: The yogi who is equal-minded towards friend and foe, the good and the bad, excels.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 6 🔻 (47 Verses)
