BG 12.13 — Bhakti-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 12.13Chapter 12 · Bhakti-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।

निर्ममो निरहंकारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥

adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca

nirmamo nirahaṃkāraḥ sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

He hates no creature, befriends and shows compassion to all, claims nothing as his own, harbors no ego, stands steady in pain and pleasure, and does not break under provocation.

ekras · bhāṣya

Hating no being, friendly, compassionate; without ownership, without ahamkara; equal in pain and pleasure, kshami — patient. Six predicates of the bhakta dear to Krishna. The chapter now turns to the portrait.

Shankara reads each precisely. Adveshta sarva-bhutanam — bearing no hatred toward any being. Maitrah — friendly toward all. Karunah — compassionate. Nirmamah — without ownership-claim — i.e., my-mine is gone. Nir-ahamkarah — without I-claim. Sama-duhkha-sukhah — equal in pain and pleasure. Kshami — patient under provocation. Each predicate names a specific inner condition; all six together describe the bhakta's daily comportment.

Madhusudana reads with characteristic precision: the verse is the chapter's structural pivot from how-to-practice to who-the-practitioner-becomes. The bhakta's portrait that 12.13-19 paints is what the four-rung practice produces.

Ramanuja reads with characteristic warmth: Bhagavan names the natural fruits of the bhakti-orientation. Each predicate is what becomes available when the orientation has settled.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: each predicate names the eternally distinct jiva's appropriate relational mode under svatantra Hari's prasada.

Vallabha reads through pushti-marga: each predicate is prasada's natural fruit in the bhakta's character.

Shridhara reads cleanly: six predicates, each precise.

Context

where

Chapter 12 · Bhakti-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 12.12

Knowledge is better than blind practice; meditation is better than knowledge; renouncing the fruits of your actions is better still, and from that renunciation, peace follows at once.

What's going on

He hates no creature, befriends and shows compassion to all, claims nothing as his own, harbors no ego, stands steady in pain and pleasure, and does not break under provocation.

Sūtras through this verse (51)

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

12.5Every 'Me' from Krishna is Śiva-consciousness speaking.───→here12.13───→18.62Three names yoked — one referent sealed.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'───→here12.13───→12.20The middle six are sealed and finished.

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

7.1Middle hexad named: tat-padārtha begins.───→here12.13───→12.20Middle hexad closes; tat-pada sealed.

show all 51

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingstation · anchor

───→here12.13───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

11.55Five offering-clauses───→here12.13───→12.20Mat-paramāḥ as upasaṃhāra

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

12.1Saguṇa or nirguṇa? Depends on who's asking.───→here12.13───→17.1A third class: faith without textual training.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

11.55The whole Gītā distilled to five offering-clauses.───→here12.13───→12.20Holding-Me-supreme seals the bhakti chapter.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

11.55The five-clause crystal is bhakti named whole.───→here12.13───→12.20Saguṇa worship ripens into nirguṇa knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

11.55With awe I praise him, Kāśirāja, my teacher.───→here12.13───→12.20Therefore I praise him, Kāśirāja, my own.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

9.22The undivided devotee is already complete.───→here12.13───→12.20The middle six closes on the fearless ripened one.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingstation

───→here12.13───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

12.2Two paths reconciled — one gracious face.───→here12.13───→18.65Four parallel ways of saying one thing.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

12.3Avyakta worshippers stay plural, distinct.───→here12.13───→15.16Bhūta is not inert; ranges over jīvas.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

12.1Avyakta follows the manifest rūpa.───→here12.13───→15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

12.1Beyond avyakta is puruṣa, and Viṣṇu.───→here12.13───→15.1World-tree rooted up; Viṣṇu is ūrdhva-mūla.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

12.5Avyakta-path costs greater toil.───→here12.13───→12.20Dear devotee is at the apex.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

12.5Avyakta-rival raised, then answered.───→here12.13───→18.3Three pakṣas staged at the chapter head.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

9.34Bind your mind to Me, the only safe tie.───→here12.13───→12.20The devotee holds this teaching dearest.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

12.6Surrender every act, and He lifts you out.───→here12.13───→18.62Take refuge whole; grace is the road.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

12.12Even devotion holds its own gradient.───→here12.13───→18.66Devotion's flagship, and the closing door.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvaraapproach

───→here12.13───→13.1One knower in every field — Parameśvara.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerexit

11.34Already slain — the question is finally retired.───→here12.13───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerexit

11.49Cosmic returns to gracious; ananya means non-dual.───→here12.13───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureexit

11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.───→here12.13───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

12.12Bhakti's gradient is jijñāsu-relative.───→here12.13───→18.66Arjuna lacks formal saṃnyāsa-fitness.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

12.12Bhakta's gradient read as description.───→here12.13───→13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelbetween

12.12Bhakti's gradient ends in jñāna.───→here12.13───→12.20Closing the bhakti hexad on jñāna.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.───→here12.13───→12.20Bhakti hexad sealed at the close.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

12.1Sa-guṇa or nir-guṇa, which path wins?───→here12.13───→13.1Open the third ṣaṭka: field and knower.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

12.7I lift them across.───→here12.13───→18.65Recollection like sight: the final command.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

12.7I lift him across.───→here12.13───→18.65You are dear to Me — I promise.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

12.5The formless route is hard for a reason.───→here12.13───→14.2At creation's reissue the released remain free.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

12.6Saukarāyaṇa-śruti ranks the personal route.───→here12.13───→14.3Kāṣāyaṇa-śruti gives three goddesses one job each.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

12.12Anabhimlāna-śruti names every rung in order.───→here12.13───→13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

12.5The personal route is easier — by design.───→here12.13───→18.66Drop every refuge, take the One refuge.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

12.2Such are dearest to Me of all yogis.───→here12.13───→12.20These devotees are exceedingly dear.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

12.6Single-aim devotion draws the lifting hand.───→here12.13───→14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

12.1Form or formless: which is the better road?───→here12.13───→13.2I lift my devotees, so I now teach truth.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktaapproach

───→here12.13───→13.20Both natures cause the body's binding.

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here12.13───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordstation

───→here12.13───→

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

11.55Grace-soul acts only when the Lord wills.───→here12.13───→12.20The dear devotee holds the teaching fast.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

12.1The object of love is the puruṣottama himself.───→here12.13───→18.65The chariot-driving Lord is the calf-affection ocean.

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathstation · v2 · station 11/12

───→here12.13───→

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Friendly, compassionatestation · other · station 4/7

───→here12.13───→

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

'Adveshta sarva-bhutanam maitrah karuna eva cha.' Without enmity, friendly, compstation · station 2/6

───→here12.13───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

12.2The form-devotee is most perfectly joined.───→here12.13───→12.20Living this teaching itself is the highest devotion.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

12.7I lift them out of saṃsāra's ocean.───→here12.13───→18.66The phala-vilamba grief is what 18.66 closes.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

12.1Arjuna's question Krishna already answered.───→here12.13───→13.1The kṣetra-question resolves 12.20's hint.

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here12.13───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingexit

11.55Acting for Me, holding Me supreme — that is the road.───→here12.13───→

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 14 occurrences)

मैत्रः maitra — friendly (from mitra) · nominative masculine singular noun
क्षमी kṣamin — patient, forbearing (from kṣamā + -in) · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 12.14
निरहंकारः nirahaṃkāra — without ego (nis- + ahaṃkāra) · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 2.71, 12.14
द्वेष्टा dveṣṭṛ — hater (from √dviṣ + -tṛ) · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 14

अ a — negation prefix (un-, non-, not)
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound
भूतानाम् bhūta — being, creature; element; past, gone · genitive neuter plural noun
करुणः karuṇa — compassionate, sorrowful · nominative masculine singular noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
निर्ममः nirmama — without sense of mine-ness (nis- + mama 'mine') · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 2.71, 12.14, 12.19, 18.53
सम sama — equal, same, even-minded · compound
दुःख duḥkha — suffering, sorrow, pain · compound
सुखः sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If advesta (non-hatred) rests on seeing all beings as atman or as Bhagavan's instruments, is it a moral achievement or a perceptual shift — and which comes first?
02Schools split on whether these qualities are descriptive (the bhakta naturally has them as fruit of practice) or prescriptive (the aspirant must cultivate them as means). Does the text itself decide this question?

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03Nirmama (no 'mine') and nirahankara (no 'I') appear as a pair: is their order significant — must possessiveness dissolve before ego, or simultaneously?
04Sama-duhkha-sukha (equanimity in pain and pleasure) is praised here; yet Krsna elsewhere weeps through Arjuna grief. How do the schools reconcile felt compassion with affective equanimity?
05Ksama (forbearance) closes the verse. Sridhara calls it the stabilizing virtue. Sankara says the knower 'simply abides unmoved' when struck. Is forbearance an active discipline or the automatic consequence of right vision?
06Vallabha insists these qualities appear in the bhakta only through Krsna's uncaused grace. Does this make human effort to cultivate them misguided, supplementary, or simply preparatory?
07This is the first verse of the 12.13-19 catalog. Does the sequence matter — does non-hatred logically precede friendliness precede compassion, or is the list accumulative without hierarchy?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When a colleague's criticism stings, pause and ask: 'Who is the one being criticized?' Sankara's advesta practice is not managing the emotion but questioning the identity that takes offence — the sting dissolves when the one who feels insulted is seen as a projected image, not bedrock reality.

Dvaita

Madhva's frame for nirmama in daily life: list the things you call 'mine' — money, reputation, relationships — and rehearse daily that you hold them in trust from Hari, who lent them and may recall them. The practice is not detachment as coldness but grateful stewardship, which is far more stable under loss than ownership ever was.

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Bhakti

Sridhara's three-register reading of advesta becomes a practical social map: in professional hierarchies, check for envy of superiors; with peers, check whether you're extending genuine maitri or transactional courtesy; with those who are struggling, notice whether karuna is present or whether you're maintaining polite distance. The verse is a diagnostic across all three relational zones.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's synthesis offers the most integrative everyday practice: choose one person toward whom you feel chronic low-grade irritation and deliberately practice the paramahamsa quality he describes — grant them fearlessness by removing from your presence any judgment they might fear. This is ksama not as gritted-teeth endurance but as the active gift of safety, which transforms both the giver and the receiver.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 12, Verse 13: Krishna to Arjuna — Bhakti-Yoga