Bhagavad Gita 13.14सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्।सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat sarvato
’kṣhi-śhiro-mukham sarvataḥ śhrutimal loke sarvam āvṛitya tiṣhṭhati
Sanskrit recitation
The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching
Translation
With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds, enveloping all.
Hindi translation
वे (परमात्मा) सब जगह हाथों और पैरोंवाले, सब जगह नेत्रों, सिरों और मुखोंवाले तथा सब जगह कानोंवाले हैं। वे संसारमें सबको व्याप्त करके स्थित हैं।
Meaning
He (the knower of the field or Para Brahman) pervades everything in this world. He fills and surrounds this world with Himself. He abides in the universe enveloping everything.In the previous verse it is said that the Brahman Which is to be known is neither being nor nonbeing. One may think that It is nonentity or void or nothing. In order to remove this misapprehension, the Lord says in this verse that the knowable has hands and feet everywhere, etc. It directs the mind and the senses to do their proper functions. This is only the manifest aspect of Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes).Just as the enginedriver drives the engine, so also the knowable or the knower of the field drieves the bodyengine. It is the Inner Ruler. It is the innermost Self. It is the support, substratum or basis for this world, body, mind, lifeforce and the senses. The existence of Brahman is determined or ascertained or indicated by the existence of the limiting adjuncts, viz., body, mind and senses, because there must be selfconsciousness behind their activities. How can you call It nonexistence thenJust as the rope is not affected by the alities or the defects of the illusory superimposed snake, so also Para Brahman (the knower of the field) is not affected by the superimposed world, body, senses, mind and the lifeforce
After Swami Sivananda
The field and the knower· 13.1–13.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.1Arjuna said, "I wish to learn about Nature and the Spirit, the field and the knower of the…
- 13.2The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, this body is called the field; he who knows it is called…
- 13.3Do thou also know Me as the knower of the field in all fields, O Arjuna. Knowledge of both…
- 13.4Hear from Me in brief what the field is, of what nature it is, what its modifications are,…
- 13.5Sages have sung in many ways, with various distinctive chants and also with suggestive…
- 13.6The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the Unmanifested Nature, the ten senses,…
- 13.7Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (body), intelligence, and fortitude—the…
- 13.8Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forgiveness, uprightness, service to the teacher,…
- 13.9Indifference to the objects of the senses and also absence of egoism; perceiving the evil…
- 13.10Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home, and the rest, and…
- 13.11Unswerving devotion to Me through the Yoga of non-separation, resorting to solitary…
- 13.12Constancy in Self-knowledge, the perception of the end of true knowledge—this is declared…
- 13.13I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality; the…
13.14With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears…
- 13.15Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without being attached to them;…
- 13.16It is within and without all beings, both the unmoving and the moving; It is subtle and…
- 13.17Undivided yet, It exists as if divided in beings; It is to be known as the supporter of…
- 13.18That Light of all lights is said to be beyond darkness: knowledge, the knowable, and the…
Word-by-word→
- tat
- that
- loke
- in the universe
- mukham
- faces
- pādam
- feet
- sarvam
- everything
- akṣhi
- eyes
- pāṇi
- hands
- śhiraḥ
- heads
- sarvataḥ
- everywhere
- āvṛitya
- pervades
- śhruti-mat
- having ears
- tiṣhṭhati
- exists
Related verses
- 15.17But distinct is the Supreme Purusha, called the highest Self, indestructible and Lord, who…
- 5.6But, O mighty-armed Arjuna, renunciation is hard to attain without Yoga; the sage who is…
- 13.27Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou, O best of the Bharatas…
- 18.5Acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity should not be abandoned, but should be performed;…