सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु
साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते
suhṛnmitrāryudāsīnamadhyasthadveṣyabandhuṣu
sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu samabuddhirviśiṣyate
TRANSLATION
He who regards with an equal eye well-wishers, friends, foes, the indifferent, neutrals, the hateful, the relations, and even the good and the sinful—he excels.
PURPORT
‘Well-wishers’ (Suhrt) are those who wish one well, regardless of differences in age. ‘Friends’ (Mitra) are well-wishers of equal age. ‘Foes’ (Ari) are those who wish ill to one because of some particular cause. ‘The indifferent’ (Udasina) are those devoid of both friendship and hostility because of the absence of causes for both; ‘neutrals’ (Madhyastha) are those who are by their very nature incapable of both friendship and hostility. ‘The hateful’ are hose who wish ill to one even from birth. ‘Relations’ are those who bear goodwill from birth. ‘The good’ are those devoted to virtue. ‘The sinful’ are those given to sin. Because of the self being the only end of Yoga, and because of there being no gain and no opposition from well-wishers, friends, etc., he who could regard them all with an equal eye as selves, excels in respect of fitness for the practice of Yoga.
