Bhagavad Gita 6.32 · Krishna
Feeling others as yourself
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन।
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः॥
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṃ paśyati yo’arjunasukhaṃ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṃ sa yogī paramo mataḥ
One who sees, by likeness to oneself, the same pleasure and pain in all, Arjuna, is held to be the highest yogi.
Words
- yoga
What it means
Krishna names the highest yogi. Not the one with the longest meditation or the most knowledge. It's the one who feels others' joy and pain as their own. Atma-aupamyena, by comparison with oneself. If it would hurt me, it hurts them. If it would delight me, it delights them.
The story
Arjuna's whole crisis came from deep empathy for his kin. Krishna doesn't dismiss that. He honours it and widens it. Feel for everyone, he says, and you've reached the summit of yoga.
In your life
Picture a nurse who treats every patient the way she'd want her own mother treated. That's the highest yoga. Before you speak to someone today, ask, how would this feel if it were me?
Feel others as yourself.