Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 9 भगवद् गीता अध्याय 6 श्लोक 9 सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु। साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते।।6.9।। English Translation - Swami Gambirananda 6.9 He excels who has sameness of view with regard to a benefactor, a friend, a foe [Ari (foe) is one who does harm behind ones back.], a neutral, an arbiter, the hateful, [Dvesyah is one who openly hateful.] a relative, good people and even sinners. English Translation - Swami Sivananda 6.9 He who is of the same mind to the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, the relatives, the righteous and the unrighteous, excels. English Translation - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 6.9. He whose mind is eal in the case of the friend, companion, enemy, the indifferent one, the one who remains in the middle, the foe, the relative, the righteous and also the sinful-he excells [all]. English Commentary - Swami Sivananda 6.9 सुह्यन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु in the goodhearted? in friends? in enemies? in the indifferent? in neutrals? in haters and in relatives? साधुषु in the righteous? अपि also? च and? पापेषु in the unrighteous?,समबुद्धिः one who has eal mind? विशिष्यते excels.Commentary He excels He is the best among the Yogarudhas.Samabudhhi is eanimity or evenness of mind. A Yogi of Samabuddhi has eal vision. He is ite impartial. He is the same to all. He makes no difference with reference to caste? creed or colour. He loves all as his own self? as rooted in the Self.A goodhearted man does good to others without expecting any servie from them in return.Udasina is one who is ite indifferent.A neutral is one who does not join any of the two contending parties. He stands as a silent spectator or witness.The righteous are those who do righteous actions and follow the injunctions of the scriptures.The unrighteous are those who do wrong and forbidden actions? who inure others and who do not follow the scriptures. English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's 6.9 The first line of the verse beginning with benefactor, etc. is a single compound word. Visisyate, he excels, i.e. he is the best among all those who are established in Yoga-(a different reading is vimucyate, he becomes free); sama-buddhih, who has sameness of view, i.e. whose mind is not engaged with the estion of who one is and what he does; with regard to a suhrd, benefactor-one who does some good without consideration of return; mitram, a friend, one who is affectionate; arih, a foe; udasinah, a neutral, who sides with nobody; madhyasthah, an arbiter, who is a well-wisher of two conflicting parties; dvesyah, the hateful, who is repulsive to oneself; bandhuh, a relative;- to all these as also sadhusu, with regard to good people, who follow the scriptures; api ca, and even; papesu, sinners, who perform prohibited actions-with regard to all of them. Therefore, to acire this excellent result- English Translation of Commentary - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan 6.9 Suhrt etc. Friend is one whose heart remains good and auspicious without cause (on its own accord). Companionship is [that which is felt] mutually. Enmity is [also that which is felt] between one another. The indifferent one : the one, who is free from both these. One who remains in the middle : he who is partly a friend and partly an enemy. Foe : he who deserves to be hated, [but] cannot be hated. Relative : the one [connected] by marital bondage. Whosoever is with his mind eal to all these as well as to the righteous and the sinful; he excells [all] i.e., stage after stage he goes out of the cycle of birth-and-death. By the worshipful-footed persons of this sort - English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary 6.9 Well-wishers (Suhrt) are those who wish one well, regardless of differences in age. Friends (Mitra) are well-wisheres of eal age. Foes (Ari) are those who wish ill to one because of some particular cause. The indifferent (Udasina) are those devoid of both friendship and hostility because of the absence of causes for both; neutrals (Madhyastha) are those who are by their very nature incapable of both friendship and hostility. The hateful are those who wish ill to one even from birth. Relations are those who bear goodwill from birth. The good are those devoted to virtue. The sinful are those given to sin. Because of the self being the only end of Yoga, and because of there being no gain and no opposition from well-wishers, friends, etc., he who could regard them all with an eal eye as selves, excels in respect of fitness for the practice of Yoga. Commentary - Chakravarthi Ji The yogi sees equally the person who wishes one well (suhrt) his nature, one who actually does good out of affection (mitra), the killer (ari), one who is neutral in times of conflict or honor (udasina), the mediator who tries to resolve conflict between the two sides (madhyastha), the person who deserves hatred because he harms one (dvesya), the relative (bandhuh), the follower of dharma and the follower of adharma. This position is superior to that of seeing dirt and gold as the same. Rudra Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary One who looks equally upon all these persons mentioned well-wisher, enemy etc. is superior to even one who is performing yoga or the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciouness. A well-wisher is benevolent towards one, a friend is affectionate, an enemy causes harm and the envious are persons of aversion. The good are those of righteous behaviour and the sinful are those of unrighteous behavior. The person who through strength and clarity of mind is able to look in equanimity upon all without a doubt excels even the yogi. Brahma Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary That person verily is distinguished among mortals who feels equanimity towards both those who are righteous and those who are unrighteous. They alone understand that the consciousness residing in every living entity is the Ultimate Consciousness which is the all pervasive medium equally present in all beings. The embodied being is literally the manifestation of this consciousness and the distinctiveness is due to the propensity of ones internal potency. Attributes such as compassion, magnanimity and righteousness are bestowed by the grace of the Supreme Lord as otherwise it is not possible to possess them. This has been confirmed by all the saints and sages. Essentially all embodied beings are of the form of this consciousness devoid of any defect. The defects that manifest among embodied beings is due to their internal propensity as all are emanations from the Supreme Lord and are dependent solely upon Him. All embodied beings are non- different in their essence and the seeming differences which appear are due to distinctive attributes and any seeming perception of inequality is due to delusion. Thus all human beings are fundamentally and essentially the same. The Brahma Purana states: That the demi-gods in the heavenly dimensions belong to a special category and have special powers and attributes that are natural and eternal in order to regulate universal management throughout creation. The demons possess substantial defects which appear natural to them and are eternal as well. Human being possess both attributes and defects which are also natural and eternal. Only the Supreme Lord Krishna and His authorised incarnations possess eternal attributes always for all time. It should not be surmised that the righteous ones and the unrighteous ones should be respected alike and regarded the same for that would be a grave error. The Brahma Purana states: If beings of equal qualification are worshipped unequally and people of unequal gradation are worshipped equally they will be relegated from their position even if they happen to be demi- gods. Manu Samhita states: The wealthy, family members, the elders, the learned and the bonafide spiritual preceptor. All these are considered to be venerable in their places but in gradation the subsequent one is superior to the one preceding it. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana states: Whoever respects all living entities with equal vision knowing that the inner essence is the same for all, pleases the Supreme Lord. The distinctions between people due to the differences in their methods of worship will not be disturbing to one who views all with equanimity. Among the venerable ones who perform worship according to the Vedic scriptures, if there is at any time mistakes or defects in the worship it will be viewed with equanimity. The Garuda Purana states: In whatever manner actions are required to be performed in relation to the venerable ones or an enemy then those activities are considered as situated in equanimity. The Vishnu Purana states that: One who performs activities without expecting anything in return is known as magnanimous. Even while engaged in turmoil the one who extends protection is the friend and the one who refuses protection is the enemy. One who neither helps or harms is known as passive. One who does not act when things are required to be done is known as irresponsible. One who does hateful things is known as evil. One who performs beneficial activities is known as righteous. Whatever activity one is required to perform according to time and circumstances and the Vedic scriptures that activity is considered to be in equanimity. The Narada Purana specifies that: One who is affectionate without any expectation is the magnanimous one. Seeing suffering the one who extends help is the friend. One who causes pain is evil. One who does not reciprocate friendship even when given friendship is ungrateful. One who does good to others only if good was done for them is known as mediocre. The magnanimous one referred to here is the Supreme Lord. Shri Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary The word suhru refers to one who taking no umbrage in differences of age wishes one well. The word mitra denotes a friend of equal age who wishes one well. Ary is one who wishes one ill. Udasina is a stranger who has no cause to be a friend or a foe. Madhyastha is neutral one who from birth was never a friend or a foe. Dvesya is one who was born as an enemy and bears ill will from birth. Bandhusu is a relative who bears good will from birth. Sadhusu are the saintly and virtuous who follow the path of righteousness. Papesu are the vile and wicked who follow the path of iniquity. A yuktah as referred to by Lord Krishna in the previous verse is one who has completely abandoned material pursuits and has ceased from all relationships with the world. Such a person has nothing to gain therefore nothing to lose and views all with equal vision in equanimity. Kumara Vaishnava Sampradaya - Commentary The word suhru refers to one who taking no umbrage in differences of age wishes one well. The word mitra denotes a friend of equal age who wishes one well. Ary is one who wishes one ill. Udasina is a stranger who has no cause to be a friend or a foe. Madhyastha is neutral one who from birth was never a friend or a foe. Dvesya is one who was born as an enemy and bears ill will from birth. Bandhusu is a relative who bears good will from birth. Sadhusu are the saintly and virtuous who follow the path of righteousness. Papesu are the vile and wicked who follow the path of iniquity. A yuktah as referred to by Lord Krishna in the previous verse is one who has completely abandoned material pursuits and has ceased from all relationships with the world. Such a person has nothing to gain therefore nothing to lose and views all with equal vision in equanimity. Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 6.9Suhrinmitraary udaaseena madhyastha dweshya bandhushu; Saadhushwapi cha paapeshu samabuddhirvishishyate. Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 6.9su-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