Upanishads · Varāha 1.13
॥
Devanāgarī
सङ्कल्पोऽध्यवसायश्च अभिमानोऽवधारणा । मुदिता करुणा मैत्री उपेक्षा च चतुष्टयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
saṅkalpo'dhyavasāyaśca abhimāno'vadhāraṇā | muditā karuṇā maitrī upekṣā ca catuṣṭayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सङ्कल्पः अध्यवसायः चsaṅkalpaḥ adhyavasāyaḥ caintention and resolve
अभिमानः अवधारणाabhimānaḥ avadhāraṇāappropriation, retention
मुदिता करुणा मैत्रीmuditā karuṇā maitrījoy, compassion, friendliness
उपेक्षा च चतुष्टयम्upekṣā ca catuṣṭayamand equanimity — the quaternity
Translation
"Intention and resolve, appropriation and retention; joy, compassion, friendliness, and equanimity — the quaternity."
Version
003d7c0bcdb4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four acts of the inner instruments are added, and four dispositions; and this second quaternity deserves examination, for it is among the finest passages in all Indian moral literature. These are the chatvari brahma-vihara, the four dispositions, known both to Patanjali and to the Buddhists: maitri ("friendliness"), karuna ("compassion"), mudita ("shared joy"), upeksha ("equanimity"). The Yoga-sutras name them and indicate for whom each is fitting: "friendliness toward the happy, compassion toward the unhappy, shared joy toward the virtuous, equanimity toward the wicked; by this consciousness is clarified" (1.33).
Worth examining is the distribution, for it is intelligently arranged. Toward the happy — friendliness, for otherwise envy will arise. Toward the unhappy — compassion, for otherwise contempt will arise.
Toward the virtuous — shared joy, and this is the hardest of all: to rejoice in another's success in something one has not oneself succeeded at. Toward the wicked — equanimity: neither anger nor approval, but non-involvement. The Vaishnava side accepts this list and cites it in its books; but diverges on the last, and the divergence deserves naming.
Toward the wicked it commands not equanimity, but kripa, "mercy": Chaitanya sent his own to Jagai and Madhai, discussed when reading the Rudraksha-jabala (3p16). The ground given is this: equanimity toward the wicked is self-protection, sensible for one who is weak; but for one who can help, it is an evasion.