Sanskrit
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च । निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥
adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī
Translation
He who beareth no ill-will to any being, friendly and compassionate, without attachment and egoism, balanced in pleasure and pain, and forgiving,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s tone shifts here from instruction to portrait — from “how to reach Me” to “who is dear to Me” — opening a list that runs through verse 20. It leads with negatives (no ill-will, no possessiveness, no egoism) before positives (friendliness, compassion, forgiveness), the same defining-by-absence-first pattern used for the sthitaprajna in 2.55-56, and the balance in pleasure and pain here is close to verbatim that earlier formula. The tone shifts from instruction to portrait — from “how to reach Me” to “who is dear to Me” — and it leads with negatives (no ill-will, no I-making, no possessiveness) before positives, the same define-by-absence pattern as the sthitaprajña at BG 2.55–BG 2.56.
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Word by word
- adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃअद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां
- bearing no ill-will to any being (adveṣṭā + sarva-bhūtānām)
- maitraḥ karuṇa eva caमैत्रः करुण एव च
- friendly and compassionate (maitraḥ + karuṇaḥ + eva + ca)
- nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥनिर्ममो निरहङ्कारः
- without 'mine,' without 'I' (nir-mamaḥ + nir-ahaṅkāraḥ)
- samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamīसमदुःखसुखः क्षमी
- the same in pain and pleasure, forgiving (sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ + kṣamī)
Commentary
Site Commentary
For twelve verses Krishna has been telling Arjuna what to do. Here he stops instructing and starts describing — not “act this way” but “this is what someone who already has arrived looks like.” A vivid portrait of the destination often does more work than one more instruction about the route.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're unsure what step to take next in becoming who you want to be, try describing that person in concrete, specific behavior instead of issuing yourself another rule — a vivid picture often guides better than one more instruction.
Professional
- When coaching someone, describe what a strong performer in the role actually does day to day, not just the policies they must follow — a concrete portrait transfers standards that rules alone can't.
Family & Social
- When you want a family member to change, describe specifically what the relationship looks like when it's going well, rather than only listing complaints — give them something concrete to move toward, not just away from.
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