Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन ।
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः ॥३२॥
ātmaupamyena sarvatra
samaṁ paśyati yo 'rjuna
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ
sa yogī paramo mataḥ
Word for word (synonyms)
- ātma
- self
- aupamyena
- by comparison
- sarvatra
- everywhere
- samam
- equality
- paśyati
- sees
- yaḥ
- he who
- arjuna
- O Arjuna
- sukham
- happiness
- vā
- or
- yadi
- if
- vā
- or
- duḥkham
- distress
- saḥ
- such
- yogī
- transcendentalist
- paramaḥ
- perfect
- mataḥ
- considered
Translation
He is a perfect yogī who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, both in their happiness and distress, O Arjuna!
Defined in the Gītā
Yogī
Who is a real yogī?
The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work.
Happiness
What is real happiness?
O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
Purport
One who is Kṛṣṇa conscious is a perfect yogī; he is aware of everyone's happiness and distress by dint of his own personal experience. The cause of the distress of a living entity is forgetfulness of his relationship with God. And the cause of happiness is knowing Kṛṣṇa to be the supreme enjoyer of all the activities of the human being. Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of all lands and planets. The perfect yogī is the sincerest friend of all living entities. He knows that the living being who is conditioned by the modes of material nature is subjected to the threefold material miseries due to forgetfulness of his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Because one in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is happy, he tries to distribute the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa everywhere. Since the perfect yogī tries to broadcast the importance of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is the best philanthropist in the world, and he is the dearest servitor of the Lord. Na tasmāt kaścid me priyakṛt tamaḥ. In other words, a devotee of the Lord always looks to the welfare of all living entities, and in this way he is factually the friend of everyone. He is the best yogī because he does not desire perfection in yoga for his personal benefit, but tries for others also. He does not envy his fellow living entities. Here is a contrast between a pure devotee of the Lord and a yogī interested only in his personal elevation. The yogī who has withdrawn to a secluded place in order to meditate perfectly may not be as perfect as a devotee who is trying his best to turn every man toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
What this verse teaches
Actions of a perfect yogī
In thematic compilations 1
- The Lord considers an equipoised devotee as the topmost. (6.32 ātmaupamyena sarvatra...)
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 2
- Bhagavad-gītā 6.32–40 1966-09-16 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 6.30–34 [Sāṅkhya Yoga System] 1969-02-19 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.