Shrimad Bhagavad-gita

by Narayana Gosvami | 2013 | 327,105 words

The Bhagavad-gita Verse 6.9, English translation, including the Vaishnava commentaries Sarartha-varsini-tika, Prakashika-vritti and Rasika-ranjana (excerpts). This is verse 9 from the chapter 6 called “Dhyana-yoga (Yoga through the Path of Meditation)”

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 6.9:

सुहृन्-मित्रार्य्-उदासीन-मध्यस्थ-द्वेष्य-बन्धुषु ।
साधुष्व् अपि च पापेषु सम-बुद्धिर् विशिष्यते ॥ ९ ॥

suhṛn-mitrāry-udāsīna-madhyastha-dveṣya-bandhuṣu |
sādhuṣv api ca pāpeṣu sama-buddhir viśiṣyate
|| 9 ||

suhṛt–towards well-wishers; mitra–friends; ari–enemies; udāsīna–neutral persons; madhya-stha–arbitrators; dveṣya–the envious; bandhuṣu–relatives; sādhuṣu–saints; api ca–and also; pāpeṣu–sinful persons;sama-buddhiḥ–one with impartial intelligence; viśiṣyate–is most advanced.

One who looks upon well-wishers, friends, enemies, the neutral, arbitrators, envious, relatives, saintly persons and sinners with equal vision is most exalted.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Suhṛt means ‘one who is a well-wisher by nature’. Mitra means ‘one who performs welfare work out of affection’. Ari refers to one who is violent or a killer. Udāsīna means ‘one who is indifferent to quarrelling parties’. Madhya-stha means ‘one who is an arbitrator for opposing parties’. Dveṣya means ‘one who is envious and acts harmfully’. Bandhu means ‘a relative’, sādhu means ‘a saintly person’ and pāpī means ‘a sinful, irreligious person’.

One who regards all of them with an equal mind, seeing them all alike, is considered to be a most distinguished and excellent person. Such a person is superior to one who looks upon a grain of sand, stone and gold equally.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

In the previous verse, a person who looks equally upon a grain of sand, stone, gold and so forth was called a yogī. But among persons who are adept at yoga (yoga-ārūḍha), those who see with equal vision a well-wisher, a friend, an enemy, a neutral person, an arbitrator, an envious person, a relative, a saint and a sinner are even more highly situated than those who see inert matter equally.

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