📿 Shloka Collection

Adveshta Sarvabhutanam

Gita 12.13 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12 — Bhakti Yoga
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥
Adveshta sarvabhutanam maitrah karuna eva cha
Nirmamo nirahankarah samaduhkhasukhah kshami
अद्वेष्टा
free from hatred, bearing no ill will
सर्वभूतानाम्
toward all beings
मैत्रः
friendly
करुणः
compassionate
एव च
and also
निर्ममः
free from possessiveness (without 'mine')
निरहङ्कारः
free from ego (without 'I')
समदुःखसुखः
equal in joy and sorrow
क्षमी
forgiving

With this shloka, Krishna begins painting the portrait of His dearest devotee. The first brushstroke: no hatred toward any living being. Not partial kindness — universal. Friendly to all. Compassionate to all. This is not selective warmth offered only to people who are pleasant or convenient.

Then two inner freedoms: no possessiveness ('mine-mine') and no ego ('I-I'). These two chains bind human beings more tightly than anything else. The person who loosens them becomes light — the way a cloud becomes light after releasing its rain.

Equal in joy and sorrow, and forgiving. When someone wrongs you, you let it go. When pain arrives, you do not crumble. The way grandparents forgive their grandchildren's mistakes almost before the mistakes are finished — that natural grace is what Krishna describes in the devotee closest to His heart.

This shloka begins the devotee-qualities section (bhakta-lakshana), which runs from 12.13 to 12.19. Arjuna wanted to know what kind of devotee Krishna holds dearest. These seven shlokas are the answer.

The qualities listed here — friendliness, compassion, freedom from ego and possessiveness, equanimity, forgiveness — form the foundation. The shlokas that follow add more layers to this portrait.

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