Equal-mindedness is advanced yoga.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु |साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते ||६-९||
suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu . sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirviśiṣyate ||6-9||
Use this verse when personal bias affects judgment.
Meaning
Superior is one who has equal understanding toward well-wishers, friends, enemies, neutrals, mediators, hateful people, relatives, the virtuous, and the sinful.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The yogi practices equal-mindedness toward all types of people.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse does not mean ignoring ethics. It means not losing inner balance or spiritual vision because of personal liking, hatred, closeness, or distance.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna pushes equanimity to its widest reach: not merely balance amid pleasure and pain, but evenness toward all people. He lists the full spectrum of human relationship — the well-wisher and the friend, the foe and the indifferent, the mediator, the hateful, the kinsman, the saint and the sinner — and declares that one who holds the same regard for them all is the most distinguished.
This is sama-buddhi, equal vision, and it is demanding. It does not mean treating all roles identically in worldly conduct, but seeing past the labels to the one Self present in each. The yogi has stopped dividing humanity into 'mine' and 'not mine', 'worthy' and 'unworthy'.
Because he no longer takes his stand in ego, others cease to be defined by how they serve or threaten that ego. This impartial love, embracing even those who wish him ill, marks the height of spiritual maturity.
In daily life
Respond to people by dharma, not personal bias.
A manager should be fair to both favorite and difficult team members.
Try this today
Treat one difficult person with fairness today.
I respond with fairness and inner balance.Reflect
Who triggers my bias most strongly?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘साधुषु अपि च पापेषु’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on equality, in other chapters
- Verse 9.29Divine grace shines equally on all, like the sun; devotion is simply opening the window to let that ever-present light in.
- Verse 5.19Steady your mind in equanimity and you conquer birth and death here and now — for an even mind already rests in Brahman.
- Verse 12.4Even the seeker of the formless reaches God when sense-control is joined with equal vision and care for all beings.
- Verse 2.38Train yourself to act with full commitment while holding all outcomes — success and failure, gain and loss — with equal steadiness; that equanimity is the key to action without karmic bondage.
Swipe left for 6.10 · Create space for inner practice.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 6.9
Who says Bhagavad Gita 6.9, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 6.9, in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga (Dhyana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.9 mean?
Superior is one who has equal understanding toward well-wishers, friends, enemies, neutrals, mediators, hateful people, relatives, the virtuous, and the sinful. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 6.9 for daily life?
Respond to people by dharma, not personal bias. A manager should be fair to both favorite and difficult team members.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 6.9 mean?
सुहृत् — the well-wisher; मित्र — the friend; अरि — the enemy; उदासीन — the indifferent / neutral; मध्यस्थ — the mediator / arbiter.
Where does verse 6.9 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 9 of 47 in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. The next verse is 6.10.