अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥
adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca|nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī ||
Not hating, friendly, compassionate, without 'mine' or 'I', equal in pain and joy, forgiving — the dear devotee!
Word by word (3)
- adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ
- — non-hating of all beings / one who does not hate any creature · adveṣṭā = non-hater (a = not; dveṣṭā = one who hates; from √dviṣ = to hate, to be hostile toward; dveṣa is one of the five kleśas in Patañjali: the fundamental aversion-impulse; adveṣṭā = one in whom this impulse is absent, not suppressed but genuinely dissolved). sarva-bhūtānāṃ = of all beings, toward all creatures (sarva = all; bhūta = being, that which has come into existence; bhūtānāṃ = genitive plural). The scope is total: adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ — not 'doesn't hate friends' or 'doesn't hate humans' but zero-hatred toward ALL existence. This is the FIRST quality named in the dear-devotee portrait, which is significant: before any positive spiritual achievement, the Gita begins with the removal of hatred. The portrait will continue for 8 more verses (V13-V20).
- maitraḥ sa-karuṇaḥ nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ
- — friendly, compassionate, without 'mine', without 'I' · maitraḥ = friendly, mitra-like (from mitra = friend, ally; mitra goes back to the Vedic deity Mitra = the god of covenants/friendship; maitraḥ = one who embodies mitra-quality = genuine friendliness, not social politeness but soul-warmth). sa-karuṇaḥ = compassionate (sa = with; karuṇa = compassion, the feeling that arises when one perceives suffering in another; karuṇa is one of the four brahmavihāras in Buddhism: compassion alongside loving-kindness, empathetic joy, and equanimity; here sa-karuṇaḥ = one who has compassion with them). nirmama = without 'mine' (nis = without; mama = mine, of-me; nirmama = one who has no mine-ness, no possessiveness, no territorial claiming of objects, persons, or outcomes as 'belonging to me'). nirahaṃkāra = without I-maker (nis = without; ahaṃkāra = the I-making function = the faculty that constantly constructs the narrative 'I am this, I am doing this, this is mine'; nirahaṃkāra = one in whom this construction has dissolved — no arrogance, no self-assertion, no pride-based separation).
- sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī
- — equal in pain and pleasure, forgiving · sama = equal, same, balanced (from √sam = to be even; sama = the quality of not tilting toward or away from; equanimity). duḥkha = pain, sorrow, suffering (du = bad + kha = axle-hole; the metaphor is a cart with a bad axle that grinds and causes trouble; duḥkha = that which grinds = suffering). sukha = pleasure, happiness, ease (su = good + kha = axle-hole; sukha = well-running, that which flows smoothly = pleasant experience). sama-duḥkha-sukha = one to whom pain and pleasure are equal — not insensate (not unable to feel) but unswayed — the experiences occur but they don't destabilize the inner equipoise. kṣamī = forgiving, patient (from √kṣam = to endure, to tolerate, to forgive; kṣamā = earth = that which bears all things without complaint; kṣamī = one who bears, one who forgives without keeping score). Note the progression: adveṣṭā (doesn't hate) → maitraḥ (actively friendly) → karuṇaḥ (compassionate with others' suffering) → nirmama (not possessive) → nirahaṃkāra (no I-maker) → sama-duḥkha-sukha (equanimous) → kṣamī (forgiving). Seven qualities in two verses (V13-V14).
V13 opens the portrait of the priya-bhakta (dear devotee) — Krishna's description of the kind of person He loves most. The first cluster of qualities: no hatred toward any being, genuine friendliness, compassion, freedom from possessiveness and ego, equanimity between pain and pleasure, and forgiveness. These aren't requirements for entry; they're the natural fruit of bhakti practice — the person who practices what V6-V12 described gradually becomes this.
A modern analogy
Think of someone you know who genuinely has no enemies — not because they avoid everyone, but because they meet every person with warmth and no hidden agenda. They're the same with good news and bad. They hold no grudges. They don't think 'this is MINE.' That quality of presence is adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ. Krishna says: that person is dear to Me.
Sit with this: The portrait begins with adveṣṭā (non-hatred) rather than with devotion or knowledge. Why do you think non-hatred is listed first? What is the relationship between the inner removal of hatred and the capacity for genuine devotion?
V13 begins the priya-bhakta portrait (V13-V20), which is one of the Gita's most beloved passages — 8 verses listing 24 qualities of the person Krishna calls 'dear to Me.' The portrait is significant for what it emphasizes: it does not begin with samādhi, or with Vedic scholarship, or with ritual observance — it begins with adveṣṭā (non-hatred) and maitraḥ (friendliness). The teaching: the fruit of genuine yoga is ethical and relational before it is mystical. Nirmama (without 'mine') and nirahaṃkāra (without 'I') are the two great anchors of ahaṃkāra dissolution — the inner subject and its possessive claims both released.
Advaita lens
Śankara reads nirmama and nirahaṃkāra as the most technically Advaitic qualities in the portrait: nirmama = the dissolution of object-attachment (external); nirahaṃkāra = the dissolution of subject-construction (internal). Together they are the practical dissolution of the subject-object structure that generates the illusion of a separate self. Adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ is the behavioral consequence: when there is no separate self to be threatened, there is no basis for hatred toward any being.
Bhakti lens
V13 opens Krishna's description of the priya-bhakta (most beloved devotee) — and the first quality is adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ (not-hating toward all beings). In bhakti, non-hatred is not mere tolerance but flows from seeing the Lord in all beings; when you recognize that every being is animated by the Beloved, hatred becomes structurally impossible. The full list — maitri (friendliness), karuṇā (compassion), nirmama (no mine-ness), nirahaṃkāra (no ego) — is the natural expression of a heart that has found its completion in the Lord and no longer needs anything from others.
Karma-Yoga lens
For the karma-yogi, this verse describes the internal atmosphere that makes nishkāma karma not just possible but sustainable over a lifetime: 'nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ' (no mine-ness, no ego) removes exactly the identification with doer and result that creates karma-bondage. 'Sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ' (equal in pleasure and pain) is the equanimity that allows action in all circumstances without being destabilized by outcomes. V13 is the portrait of what a mature karma-yogi looks like in daily human relationship.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V13 missing from SH indexed] [1]
[V13 missing from SW indexed — combined with V14 portrait unit] [4]
Who hateth nought / Of all which lives, living himself benign, / Compassionate, from arrogance exempt, / Exempt from love of self, unchangeable / By good or ill; patient [7]
That devotee of mine, who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, who is free from egoism, and from (the idea that this or that is) mine, to whom happiness and misery are alike, who is forgiving [9]
He who has no hatred for any creature, who is friendly and compassionate also, who is free from egoism, who has no vanity, attachment, who is alike in pleasure and pain, who is forgiving [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Seers with sins destroyed, doubts cut, self-controlled, devoted to all beings' welfare — they attain brahma-nirvāṇa.
Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!
Daivī wealth begins: abhaya, sattva-śuddhi, jñāna-yoga, dāna, dama, yajña, svādhyāya, tapa, ārjava.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Your own mind is your best friend when mastered; your worst enemy when not.
Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, Great Lord of all worlds, Friend of all beings — peace comes.