Gita 06.09 – Equal vision towards those who relate unequally is challenging

In our next talk. Thank you.

… … … … … So here Krishna is continuing his description of the yoga rudder stage of the person who has ascended to the top of the yoga ladder in the previous verse which concluded with … the point was that the advanced yogi sees all things equally stone, pebbles and gold now this verse takes that vision of equality further and and states that the person sees, the yogi sees all people equally. So Suhrun Mitraarya Udaseena, Suhrun is a very close friend, intimate friend. Krishna has referred to himself as a friend of that category.

He stated Suhrudam Sarvabhutana in 5.29. So Suhrun Mitra, Mitra is a general friend. Mitra, Ari, Ari is an enemy. Murari, one who is the enemy of the demon Mura, that is the name of Krishna.

Udaseena, is one who is detached, indifferent. Who does not take sides, who is unconcerned. Madhyastha, Madhyastha is a mediator.

So Udaseena and Madhyastha may be in the same position of not taking sides, but their disposition is different. Udaseena is unconcerned, whereas Madhyastha is concerned to bring about a reconciliation between the two antagonistic parties. Vaishya Bandhushu, so those who are envious and those who are friendly.

Sadhushu, Apichya Paapeshhu, and there are sinful people, the Paapeshhu and the Sadhushu, the saintly people. Sambuddhir, Vishishyate, Sambuddhir, those who have equal vision towards all such people, they are Vishishyate, they are better. Vishishyate means better, better is a comparative word, so better as compared to whom? To those who have the equal vision towards things that was mentioned in the previous verse.

So Krishna has used this comparative sense and the word Vishishyate earlier also in 3.7, when he says, yastva indriyani manasa niyamyaarabhate arjuna karme indriyai karmayogam asaktah sa vishishyate So he states that those who control their senses and engage the senses constructively, in Parmayoga, they are Vishishyate, they are better. Now better than whom? That was mentioned in the previous verse, that was 3.6, that those who are hypocrites, those karme indriyani sanyamyaayasate manasa smaran indriyaarthaanvi moodhatma mithyacharasa uchyate So those who control the senses externally but internally meditate on the sense objects. So those are deluders and as compared to that, these are better, so Vishishyate.

So this is comparative tone and Krishna is saying, of course, there that was a very drastic comparison. Here both are on the same continuum. But the person who sees people equally is higher.

Now Krishna uses the word samabuddhir vishishyate sama, now same word sama and the same concept of equal vision was used by Krishna earlier in 5.18 in a much more celebrated verse, a verse that is much more often quoted, far more often quoted. vidyabhinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hastini shunichaiva ishvapakecha pandita samadarshina So Krishna is saying over there, how a pandita sees all living beings equally and at one level that 5.18's vision may seem a greater, a more evolved level of equal vision because it includes even non-human beings. As today, there is increasing appreciation for universal human consciousness where people feel that national, racial and other such boundaries create division and so we should see ourselves as belonging to the one human family.

It is a broader vision but the Vedic scriptures offer us an even broader vision that not only human beings but all living beings. So there is a doctrine called humanism which also should be, we should go beyond it. Now is it that 5.18 is, because it goes beyond humanism, is it higher than the vision described in 6.9 over here? No, not exactly, the two are in different contexts and actually 6.9 describes a level of higher vision that is tougher because here we are talking about the way people deal with us.

The yogi is talking, the yogi is having equal vision towards people who deal differently with him. So he deals with, the way people deal with as whether they are friendly or whether they are inimical or whether they are neutral. Now it's one thing to, whereas the pandita over there is observing from a distance and the way the word is described, the pandita does not have any relationship with any of them.

It's not that the brahmana is the friend of the pandita and the shopacha is, nothing like that, it's just that often we have seen the illustration of, you may have seen the illustration of this particular verse also and the idea is that the person is just observing people from a distance. So seeing people whom we don't know equally is far easier than seeing equally people whom we know and have different emotions towards, emotions ranging from very close friendship to enmity. So that's why this level of vision is higher, much higher in one sense we could say.

Of course, you don't have to go about into comparison necessarily. We all have to aspire for at least some level of spiritual vision. So we are far away, we don't need to compare those who have far far more evolved vision than us.

But suffice it to say right now that here the person, what is being talked about is seeing equally those who see us variably. Now, is it that this person is, if there is sambuddhir vishishti, if he has equal vision or equal intelligence towards everyone, now the word samabuddhir is significant because it's not just samadrishti, because we see with our intelligence. Now, we see with our eyes and from the eyes information comes into the mind and it's integrated together and the integrated picture is presented to us, the soul.

Now, if the intelligence is not active, then we don't consciously interpret the image that comes to us. We just process the image according to whatever is our default worldview. So if our default worldview is nationalistic, then we will see, if an Indian will see a Pakistani as enemy.

So samabuddhir is significant because we see, we can see equality when we see using an intelligence that has transcended duality. So now, if the intelligence has transcended duality, then what is the point of saying that somebody is a friend and somebody is an enemy? Isn't it a contradiction that if the person is seeing equally, then why call someone a friend and someone an enemy? Actually, that's because that is that person's disposition, not the yogi's disposition. The yogi is samayit, equal towards everyone.

The Gita stated earlier in 5.25 that, sarvabhutahit derata, work for the welfare of all living beings. So something similar is the vision of the yogi towards all living beings, but those people's vision is different. Some see him as an enemy, some see him as a friend, like that.

But still samabuddhir, maintaining steady intelligence. So this vision of seeing everyone equally means, it comes from the spiritual perception where we see all living beings as souls, as connected with God and thereby connected with us. So despite their different material positions, and despite even their mental dispositions towards us, still we can see them with equal vision, if we become sufficiently spiritually realized.

Thank you. Hare Krishna.