Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 9
सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु।
साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते।।
साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते।।
suhṛn-mitrāryudāsīna-madhyastha-dveṣya-bandhuṣu
sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu sama-buddhir viśiṣyate
also searched as "suhrin-mitraryudasina-madhyastha-dveshya-bandhushu"
Translation
He who regards with an equal eye well-wishers, friends, foes, the indifferent, neutrals, the hateful, the relations, and even the good and the sinful—he excels.
Vāṇi's rendering
Friend or enemy, kinsman or stranger, saint or sinner — the one who holds them all evenly stands highest.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सुहृत्suhṛt | well-wisher, the one who wants your good (appears as suhṛn before m) |
| मित्रmitra | friend |
| अरिari | enemy (becomes ary before u) |
| उदासीनudāsīna | the indifferent one, who takes no side |
| मध्यस्थmadhyastha | the mediator, standing in the middle |
| द्वेष्यdveṣya | the hateful one, whom you cannot bear |
| बन्धुषुbandhuṣu | toward kinsmen — this ending covers the whole list |
| साधुषुsādhuṣu | toward the good, the upright (becomes sādhuṣv before api) |
| अपिapi | even |
| चca | and |
| पापेषुpāpeṣu | toward the sinful |
| समबुद्धिःsama-buddhiḥ | even-minded, whose seeing does not tilt (becomes sama-buddhir before v) |
| विशिष्यतेviśiṣyate | stands highest, excels |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 9 mean?
It sets the true test of a settled mind. Krishna lists every kind of relation — friend, foe, stranger, kinsman, the upright and the wicked — and says the one whose seeing stays level across all of them stands highest. The measure is not how long you sit still, but whether names still divide your inner weather.
What is the meaning of suhrin-mitraryudasina-madhyastha-dveshya-bandhushu?
The long compound is deliberately crowded: well-wisher, friend, enemy, the indifferent, the mediator, the one you detest, the kinsman. Krishna crams them into a single breath because to sama-buddhi they arrive as one. The Sanskrit does the teaching before the verb does — seven categories, one grammatical ending.
Does treating saint and sinner equally mean right and wrong do not matter?
No. Krishna is speaking of your inner regard, not your judgment of actions. You may still refuse a wrong deed and still name it wrong. What is asked is that the person before you does not become a different order of being in your eyes. Discernment stays; contempt goes.
How do I practise this evenness in ordinary life?
Begin by noticing, not by forcing. Watch how your body answers a name — some tighten you, some soften you, some you barely register. That flinch is the field of practice. Sameness is not pretending everyone is dear; it is the slow loosening of the sorting that happens before you have chosen anything.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Count the list. Krishna names seven ways of standing toward another person — well-wisher, friend, enemy, the one who doesn't care, the one who judges between, the one you cannot bear, kin — and then adds the hardest pair: the saint and the sinner. He does not say they are the same. He says your seeing of them can be. Arjuna's whole crisis is a sorting problem: these are mine, those are theirs. The meditator's mind is measured here, not on the cushion but in the roll call of names. Notice which face in your life still changes your pulse when it appears.