Chapter 13 · Verse 29

Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field

समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम्।न हिनस्त्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम्

samaṁ paśhyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam īśhvaram na hinasty ātmanātmānaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim

Word Meanings

samam — equally; paśhyan — see; hi — indeed; sarvatra — everywhere; samavasthitam — equally present; īśhvaram — God as the Supreme soul; na — do not; hinasti — degrade; ātmanā — by one’s mind; ātmānam — the self; tataḥ — thereby; yāti — reach; parām — the supreme; gatim — destination

Language:

Translation

One who sees the Supreme Lord equally present everywhere does not degrade the Self by the self, and thereby attains the supreme destination.

Commentary

समम् eally? पश्यन् seeing? हि indeed? सर्वत्र everywhere? समवस्थितम् eally dwelling? ईश्वरम् the Lord? न not? हिनस्ति destroys? आत्मना by the self? आत्मानम् the Self? ततः then? याति goes? पराम् the highest? गतिम् the goal.Commentary This is the vision of a liberated sage. The Supreme Self abides in all forms. There is nothing apart from It.An ignorant man destroyes the Self by identifying himself with the body and the modifications of the mind and by not seeing the one Self in all beings. He has a blurred vision. His mind is very gross. He cannot think of the subtle Self. He is swayed by the force of ignorance. He mistakes the impure body for the pure Self. He has false knowledge. But the sage has knowledge of the Self or true knowledge and so he beholds the one Self in all beings. An ignorant man is the slayer of his Self. He destroys this body and takes another body and so on. But he who beholds the one Self in all beings does not destroy the Self by the self. Therefore he attains the Supreme Goal? i.e.? he attains release from the round of birth and death. Knowledge of the Self leads to liberation or salvation. Knowledge of the Absolute annihilates the ignorance in toto. If the ignorance is destroyed and false knowledge is also destroyed? all evils are simultaneously destroyed.Those who have realised that unity of the Self in all these diverse forms are never caught in the meshes of birth and death. They attain the state of Turiya (the fourth state beyond waking? dreaming and deep sleep) where form and sound do not exist.The self is everybodys friend and also his enemy as well. The idea first expressed in chapter VI? verses 5 and 6 is repeated here. (Cf.XVIII.20)