समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रियः । ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम् ॥
samo'haṃ sarvabhūteṣu na me dveṣyo'sti na priyaḥ | ye bhajanti tu māṃ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpyaham ||
Translation
I am equal toward all beings; none is hateful to Me, none is dear to Me. But those who worship Me with devotion — they are in Me, and I am in them.
Interpretation
The Divine's nature is pure equanimity (samah — equal toward all). No favorites, no enemies — the Divine's light shines on all equally, like the sun that illumines the pure and the impure alike without preference. Yet the second sentence reveals the paradox: those who worship with bhakti are in the Divine, and the Divine is in them. This is not contradiction — the Divine's love is equally available to all, but only those who turn toward it consciously experience the mutual indwelling. The key is not the Divine's choice but the devotee's turning.