6.32 Seeing others as yourself Krishna speaks
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं सः योगी परमो मतः
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśhyati yo ’rjuna
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ
One who sees everywhere as they see themselves, Arjuna — in joy or in sorrow alike — that one is held to be the highest practitioner.
Explanation
Seeing others by the likeness of yourself.
ātma-aupamyena — and in joy or in sorrow alike. Such a one is held to be the highest practitioner.
It is the Gita's version of the golden rule, and note where it is placed: not as an ethical rule but as the summit of a chapter about meditation. Eight verses of posture arrive at this.
Going further
Word by word
- ātma-aupamyena
- similar to oneself
- sarvatra
- everywhere
- samam
- equally
- paśhyati
- see
- yaḥ
- who
- arjuna
- Arjun
- sukham
- joy
- vā
- or
- yadi
- if
- vā
- or
- duḥkham
- sorrow
- saḥ
- such
- yogī
- a yogi
- paramaḥ
- highest
- mataḥ
- is considered
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One who sees everywhere as they see themselves, in joy or in sorrow alike.
Ātma-aupamyena: by the likeness of oneself. It is the Gita's version of the ethical claim other traditions state as a rule, and it arrives not as a commandment but as a description of what a certain kind of seeing produces. The chapter has spent thirty verses on solitary practice and ends up here, at other people.