Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 32
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन।
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं सः योगी परमो मतः।।
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं सः योगी परमो मतः।।
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśyati yo ’rjuna
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ
also searched as "atmaupamyena sarvatra samam pashyati yo arjuna"
Translation
He who, due to the similarity of selves everywhere, sees pleasure or pain as the same everywhere—that yogi, O Arjuna, is considered the closest.
Vāṇi's rendering
The highest yogi feels another's joy and pain as their own — measuring every being by themselves.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आत्मौपम्येनātma-aupamyena | by the likeness of oneself; taking one's own self as the measure (ātma + aupamyena joined by sandhi) |
| सर्वत्रsarvatra | everywhere, in all beings |
| समम्samaṁ | the same, equal |
| पश्यतिpaśyati | sees |
| यःyaḥ | who (written 'yo' before the next word) |
| अर्जुनarjuna | O Arjuna (the initial 'a' is elided after 'yo', shown as ’rjuna) |
| सुखम्sukhaṁ | joy, pleasure |
| वाvā | or |
| यदिyadi | if, whether |
| वाvā | or |
| दुःखम्duḥkhaṁ | pain, sorrow |
| सःsaḥ | he, that one (written 'sa' here) |
| योगीyogī | the yogi |
| परमःparamaḥ | highest, supreme (written 'paramo' before the next word) |
| मतःmataḥ | is held to be, is regarded |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 32 mean?
It names the summit of yoga. The one who takes their own self as the measure — knowing that what is joy to them is joy to every being, and what is pain to them is pain everywhere — sees rightly. Krishna calls that person the highest yogi, higher than any feat of stillness.
What does atmaupamyena sarvatra samam pashyati yo arjuna mean?
Ātma-aupamya means comparison with oneself. You already know exactly what hurts, because you have been hurt. Extend that knowledge outward without exception and you are seeing samaṁ — the same — everywhere. Krishna makes this simple recognition the crown of the whole chapter on meditation.
Why is compassion called the highest yoga here?
Because the seat, the breath and the steady gaze are all training for one thing: the dissolving of the wall between me and not-me. When that wall thins, another's grief arrives as grief. Krishna treats that arrival as proof the practice worked. No feeling for others, no yoga.
How do I practise this verse in ordinary life?
Stop at the moment of judgment and ask what you would need if you stood where they stand. Not pity from above — measurement by yourself, level ground. Do it with the person who irritates you most today, and you have done the chapter's real sitting.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has spent the chapter on solitude — the seat, the still gaze, the mind drawn inward like a lamp in a windless place. Then he names the highest yogi, and it is not the one who sits longest. It is the one who cannot look at another's pain without feeling it as pain. The measure is you: whatever you would not want done to you, you stop wanting for anyone. Arjuna hears this facing an army of relatives whose grief he already feels. Krishna does not call that weakness. He calls it the summit — provided you feel it for everyone, not only your own.