Bhagavad Gita 6.9
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 9 of 47
सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु | साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते ||९||
suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu | sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirviśiṣyate || 9 ||
Who sees friend, foe, stranger, kin, the righteous and the sinner with truly equal eyes — that one excels.
Word by word (3)
- suhṛt / mitra / ari / udāsīna / madhyastha / dveṣya / bandhu
- — well-wisher / friend / enemy / neutral / arbitrator / the hateful / kinsman · Seven categories of human relationship — covering the full social spectrum: suhṛt (the one who spontaneously wishes you well), mitra (formal friend/ally), ari (active enemy), udāsīna (indifferent bystander), madhyastha (mediator between parties), dveṣya (one you find repellent), bandhu (blood-relation). The yogi maintains sama-buddhi (equal intelligence) across all seven. Not neutral affect — equal VISION.
- sādhu / pāpa
- — virtuous / sinful · The social spectrum (V9a) is now extended to the moral spectrum: sādhu (the righteous, virtuous one) and pāpa (the sinful one). The yogi's equanimity doesn't stop at friends and foes — it extends to judgement of character. This is the hardest form of sama-buddhi: seeing the fundamental ātman equally in the person you admire most and the person you find most morally repugnant.
- sama-buddhiḥ viśiṣyate
- — with equal intelligence, excels / is distinguished · viśiṣyate (from vi + √śiṣ, to distinguish) means 'is specially distinguished,' 'stands out,' 'excels.' This is not equal FEELING — it is equal SEEING. The yogi doesn't love the enemy as much as the friend (that would be a performance). They perceive the same underlying reality (ātman/Brahman) in enemy and friend alike. That perception makes them viśiṣṭa — pre-eminent among practitioners.
He who looks with an equal mind upon well-wisher, friend, and foe, upon the neutral and the mediator, upon the hateful and the kinsman, upon the good and the sinful alike — he stands supreme.
A modern analogy
A doctor in an emergency room treats every patient with the same quality of care — the criminal and the child, the friend and the stranger, the person who caused the emergency and the person who is its victim. The doctor's discernment (triage, diagnosis, treatment) remains perfectly active. But their fundamental orientation — heal this person — does not waver based on who the person is. This verse's sama-buddhi is that doctor's orientation, extended to every moment of life.
What it does NOT mean
Equal vision (sama-buddhi) does NOT mean: treating a rapist and a saint identically in practice, ignoring injustice, refusing to have preferences, or pretending not to notice moral distinctions. The yogi still acts with discernment in the world. What is equal is the deeper seeing: recognising the same fundamental ātman beneath radically different surfaces.
Take with you
- The seven categories in the first half of this verse are an audit of your own blind spots. Most people manage sama-buddhi toward 'neutrals' and 'friends' easily. The test is the enemy and the dveṣya (the one you find repellent). Where do you fail the audit?
- Equal vision toward the sādhu and pāpa (virtuous and sinful) is the most philosophically demanding aspect. Start with: can you see the human being beneath the behaviour — the ātman beneath the action — without excusing the action?
- This verse completes a three-verse portrait of the self-conquered sage: seeing him steady through cold, heat, joy, pain, honour and dishonour; satisfied within and weighing gold and mud alike; and now — here — meeting friend, foe, stranger and kin with truly equal eyes. Three angles: how he stands amid circumstances, amid material values, and amid other human beings.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
He excels who has equal intelligence toward well-wishers, friends, enemies, neutrals, mediators, the hateful and kinsmen — and also toward the righteous and the sinful. [1]
He attains excellence who looks with equal regard upon well-wishers, friends, foes, neutrals, arbiters, the hateful, the relatives, and upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike. [4]
He who looks with equal regard on well-wishers, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, relatives, the righteous and the unrighteous — he excelleth. [5]
He is an excellent man who looks with equal eye upon all — whether it be well-wishers, friends, enemies, those indifferent to him, neutrals, the objects of his aversion or his kindred, the virtuous or the sinful. [6]
Who — equal-minded — looks upon well-wishers, friends, and foes, indifferent ones, aliens, enemies, relatives, righteous and unrighteous alike — he excels. [7]
He is esteemed who has equal intelligence towards the good-hearted, friends, enemies, indifferent persons, neutrals, the hateful, relatives, also the good and the sinful. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.
The paṇḍita sees equally in a learned Brahmin, cow, elephant, dog, and outcaste — sama-darśana.
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
The final daivī qualities: tejas, kṣamā, dhṛti, śauca, adroha, nātimānitā — belonging to one born to divine nature.
Verse 9 of 47 · back to Chapter 6