9.29 The same in all beings Krishna speaks
समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रियः
ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम्
samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣhu na me dveṣhyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣhu chāpyaham
I am the same in all beings. No one is hateful to me and no one dear. But those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am in them.
Explanation
The same in all beings — and then, immediately, not.
No one is hateful to him and no one dear. In the same breath: those who worship with devotion are in me, and I am in them.
The chapter has done this before, at 9.4 and 9.5. Impartiality and intimacy are both asserted, and the Gita does not treat the pair as a problem needing resolution.
Going further
Word by word
- samaḥ
- equally disposed
- aham
- I
- sarva-bhūteṣhu
- to all living beings
- na
- no one
- me
- to me
- dveṣhyaḥ
- inimical
- asti
- is
- na
- not
- priyaḥ
- dear
- ye
- who
- bhajanti
- worship with love
- tu
- but
- mām
- me
- bhaktyā
- with devotion
- mayi
- reside in me
- te
- such persons
- teṣhu
- in them
- cha
- and
- api
- also
- aham
- I
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I am the same in all beings; no one is hateful to me and no one dear. And in the same breath: those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am in them.
Read carefully, the second half does not contradict the first. Nothing changes on Krishna's side; what changes is whether someone is standing in the relation. The sun does not prefer the window that is open.