Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 32 (6.32)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः
॥ 6.32 ॥
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṃ paśyati yo'rjuna
sukhaṃ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṃ sa yogī paramo mataḥ
Translation
"O Arjuna, the one who, by comparison with oneself, sees the joy and sorrow of all beings alike — that yogi is considered the highest."
Interpretation
Shankaracharya — non-violence. Ātmaupamyena … yathā mama sukham iṣṭaṃ tathā sarva-prāṇināṃ sukham anukūlam … yac ca duḥkhaṃ mama pratikūlam aniṣṭaṃ yathā tathā sarva-prāṇināṃ duḥkham — just as happiness is dear to me, so it is to all beings; just as sorrow is unwelcome to me, so to all; therefore na kasyacit pratikūlam ācarati ahiṃsaka ity arthaḥ — one acts against no one — non-violent. Such a ahiṃsakaḥ samyag-darśana-niṣṭhaḥ … sarva-yoginām madhye is paramah — the best of all yogis.
Acharya Ramanuja — the fourth and final stage. Ātmanaś ca anyeṣāṃ ca ātmanām asaṃkucita-jñānaikākāratayā aupamyena — by the likeness of one's own self and other selves in their single form of knowledge; putra-janmādi-rūpaṃ sukhaṃ tan-maraṇādi-rūpaṃ ca duḥkham asambandha-sāmyāt samaṃ yaḥ paśyati — joy like the birth of a son and sorrow like the death of a son — alike in being unconnected with the self; para-putra-janma-maraṇādi-samaṃ sva-putra-janma-maraṇādikaṃ yaḥ paśyati — one who sees the birth and death of one's own son as like the birth and death of another's son; sa yogī parama-yoga-kāṣṭhāṃ gataḥ — that yogi has reached the furthest limit of yoga.
The difference (deep): Shankara — another's sorrow as one's own (empathy → non-violence); Ramanuja — one's own joy and sorrow as another's (non-attachment: the self is unconnected with both). One brings others close to oneself; the other holds oneself at a distance as one would another. Both are worth reading together.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.