adveshta sarvabhootaanaam maitraha karuna eva cha |
nirmamo nirahankaaraha samaduhkhasukhaha shamee || 13 ||
 
He who is without dislike towards all beings, who is friendly and compassionate, who is also without (the sense of) mineness and egoism, who is the same in sorrow and joy, who is forgiving…
 
adveshta : without dislike
sarvabhootaanaam : all beings
maitraha : friendly
karunaha : compassionate
eva : also
cha : and
nirmamaha : without mineness
nirahankaaraha : without egoism
samaduhkhasukhaha : same in sorrow and joy
shamee : forgiving
 
Shri Krishna always elaborates on the practical aspects of his teaching and brings it to the level of the student’s understanding. In the second chapter, he devoted several shlokas to describe the traits towards aspects of one who is established in the eternal essence. Here, he describes the traits of saints and accomplished devotees towards other people, which are easier for us to connect with, and become goals for people like us to strive towards.
 
An accomplished devotee essentially is convinced of two things: that everything in this world is not different than Ishvara, and that the devotee himself is also not different from Ishvara. When he has this outlook, he loses all sense of “I-ness” and “mine-ness”. He never believes that he exists outside of the existence of Ishvara. There is no sense of “I”-ness because only one “I” – Ishvara – exists. There is no sense of possession because everything belongs to Ishvara. It is somewhat similar to the outlook one has towards a large family.
 
So when there is such a universal sense of oneness with everything, the devotee becomes extremely friendly towards everyone. There is no sense of dislike or hatred present in him towards those who oppose him. Instead, he instantly forgives everyone. He is compassionate towards those who are in need. When all sense of duality is gone, the mind does not get agitated in sorrowful situations, nor does it get excited in joyful situations. It maintains a sense of equanimity.
 
This partial shloka continues next.