समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रियः | ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम् ||९-२९||
samo.ahaṃ sarvabhūteṣu na me dveṣyo.asti na priyaḥ .
ye bhajanti tu māṃ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpyaham ||9-29||
The same am I to all beings; to Me there is none hateful or dear; but those who worship Me with devotion are in Me and I am also in them.
In simple words
Krishna declares his impartiality: "I am the same toward all living beings. No one is hateful to Me and no one is My favorite. But those who worship Me with love — they live in Me, and I live in them."
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
9.29 समः the same? अहम् I? सर्वभूतेषु in all beings? न not? मे to Me? द्वेष्यः hateful? अस्ति is? न not? प्रियः dear? ये who? भजन्ति worship? तु but? माम् Me? भक्त्या with devotion? मयि in Me? ते they? तेषु in them? च and? अपि also? अहम् I.Commentary The Lord has an even outlook towards all. He regards all living beings alike. None He has condemned? none has He favoured. He is the enemy of none. He is the partial lover of none. He does not favour some and frown on others. The egoistic man only has created a wide gulf between himself and the Supreme Being by his wrong attitude. The Lord is closer to him that his own breath? nearer than his hands and feet.I am like fire. Just as fire removes cold from those who draw near it but does not remove the cold from those who keep away from it? even so I bestow My grace on My devotees? but not owing to any sort of attachment on My part. Just as the light of the sun? though pervading everywhere? is reflected only in a clean mirror but not in a pot? so also I? the Supreme Lord? present everywhere? manifest Myself only in those persons from whose minds all kinds of impurities (which have accumulated there on account of ignorance) have been removed by their devotion.The sun has neither attachment for the mirror nor hatred for the pot. The Kalpavriksha has neither hatred nor love for people. It bestows the desired objects only on those who go near it. (Cf.VII.17XII.14and20)Now hear the glory of devotion to Me.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
# BG 9.29
The Self that pervades all beings is one and the same. That singular consciousness illuminates the feelings and thoughts within the hearts of all creatures. I am impartial toward all beings. Just as a single sun illuminates all objects in the world, and its rays are reflected from the surfaces of all things—whether stone or precious gem—so too am I present equally in all.
None are displeasing to me, nor is any dear to me. Yet if the same Self dwells in Krishna and Buddha, in the Teacher Shankara and Jesus Christ, in the mad and the murderer, in the virtuous and the wicked, why is it that some individuals recognize this Self, while others live like mechanical creatures, devoid of consciousness?
Those who expound the path of devotion offer an emotional explanation for this apparent inequality in their sentiment-centered literature. According to them, by the grace of the Divine, divinity manifests more abundantly in certain individuals. This explanation may suffice for those who do not employ their intellectual faculties deeply in spiritual inquiry. Yet for the thoughtful and wise, this explanation will appear inconsistent, for it would require us to believe that the Supreme Being shows partiality toward some and not others.
Refuting such flawed interpretations and expounding the pure, rational principle, Lord Krishna declares: The Self abides in all beings with perfect equanimity. For the Self, there is no distinction between the auspicious and the inauspicious. The Self harbors neither special affection for any creature nor aversion toward any other.
This does not mean the Self is some powerless, inert principle. The analogy of the sun clarifies the true meaning of this verse. Though a single sun is reflected or mirrored upon the diverse objects of the world, it is equally true that the clarity and brilliance of the reflected light depends upon the qualities of the reflecting surface. A rough stone reflects only a minimal amount of light, while a clear, polished mirror reflects perhaps the maximum.
Because of this difference, we cannot accuse the sun of harboring special affection for the mirror and hatred for the stone. When we apply this analogy to inner life, it becomes clear: if certain rare individuals with golden hearts express spiritual beauty and power in abundance, while many with stony hearts express none whatsoever, the cause lies in their different conditions and limitations—not in the Self. The Self shows no preference to anyone, nor does it harbor any prejudice. The inequality we perceive is entirely in accordance with the laws of nature.
In the first line, the impartial nature of the Supreme is revealed. Then it is said: "Yet those who worship me with devotion dwell in me, and I dwell in them." Though these two statements appear contradictory, reality is not so. It is true that the Supreme harbors neither attachment nor aversion toward anyone. Yet people themselves may certainly harbor attachment or aversion toward the Divine. Those who love the Divine wish to draw near to Him, while others remain distant. Thus, those who worship the Supreme with devotion ultimately come to experience their object of worship and meditation as their own true Self—that is, they realize that in truth they are one with the Supreme Self, not separate.
Those who worship me with devotion—initially, this may be understood through the various rituals and practices of formal worship. To grasp its spiritual significance requires subtle and profound study. Fundamentally, worship is the means by which the entire army of mental faculties is organized and directed toward the divine goal of meditation. The endeavor is to establish complete identity and perfect unity with the Truth that is the object of meditation. When this practice is undertaken with devotion, the devotee becomes one with the Divine, the meditator becomes one with the object of meditation.
With this understanding in mind, upon renewed study of this verse, the meaning of the Lord's doctrinal statement becomes clear. Though the Self in its true nature shows no partiality toward anyone, in certain pure-hearted devotees, this divinity manifests through their recognition of their own Supreme nature.
Because the individual soul clings excessively to the non-Self conditions through identification with them, it cannot experience the joy of completeness. Yet when it renounces this attachment and outward-turning tendencies, it becomes worthy of knowledge and merges with its own true Self. The state of a person's mind reveals whether they are bound or free. The outward-turned mind, seeking happiness in transient objects, becomes bound by them and continually groans under sorrow and despair. That same mind, when turned inward through self-reflection, attains direct experience of the Self.
In winter, a person sitting inside a room experiences intense cold, while another sitting outside in the open sunlight enjoys the warmth of the sun. The sun harbors neither affection for the person outside nor aversion toward the one inside. In the language of this verse, we might say those sitting in the sunlight are blessed by the sun, while others are deprived of its grace. Yet nowhere does the Gita teach human beings to surrender before circumstances or their own weakness and inadequacy. The Gita is a scripture that encourages duty, righteous action, and optimistic effort—it emphasizes that humanity is the master of its weaknesses and circumstances, not their slave.
Is the path of Self-realization available only to ascetics? The Lord, expounding the glory of this devotion, declares...