Bhagavad Gita 13.33यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते।सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥
yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣhmyād ākāśhaṁ
nopalipyate sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate
Sanskrit recitation
Matter, spirit, and freedom · 13.19–13.35 · Teaching
Translation
As the all-pervading ether is not tainted, due to its subtlety, so the Self seated everywhere in the body is not tainted either.
Hindi translation
जैसे सब जगह व्याप्त आकाश अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म होनेसे कहीं भी लिप्त नहीं होता, ऐसे ही सब जगह परिपूर्ण आत्मा किसी भी देहमें लिप्त नहीं होता।
Meaning
Ether pervades everything. All are immersed in it. There is no point whereunto ether does not penetrate and pervade and yet it is not tainted by anything. Even so the Self pervades the whole body and the whole world. Being subtler than the body the Self is never tainted by it or anything else. It is unattached and actionless. It has no parts or limbs. So virtuous and vicious actions cannot contaminate the Self. It is ever pure and stainless.
After Swami Sivananda
Matter, spirit, and freedom· 13.19–13.35→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.19Thus, the field, as well as knowledge and the knowable, have been briefly stated. My…
- 13.20Know that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless, and know also that all…
- 13.21In the production of the effect and the cause, Nature (matter) is said to be the cause; in…
- 13.22The soul seated in Nature experiences the qualities born of Nature; attachment to the…
- 13.23The Supreme Soul in this body is also called the observer, the permitter, the sustainer,…
- 13.24He who thus knows the Spirit and Matter together with their qualities, in whatever…
- 13.25Some behold the Self within themselves through meditation, others through the Yoga of…
- 13.26Others, too, who do not know thus, worship, having heard of It from others; they, too,…
- 13.27Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou, O best of the Bharatas…
- 13.28He who sees the Supreme Lord existing truly in all beings, the imperishable within the…
- 13.29For he who truly sees the same Lord dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the…
- 13.30He sees, who sees that all actions are performed solely by Nature and that the Self is…
- 13.31When a person sees all beings as resting in the One and emanating from the One alone, they…
- 13.32Being without beginning, devoid of any qualities, the Supreme Self, imperishable, though…
13.33As the all-pervading ether is not tainted, due to its subtlety, so the Self seated…
- 13.34Just as the one sun illuminates the entire world, so too does the Lord of the field…
- 13.35They who, by the eye of knowledge, perceive the distinction between the field and its…
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- dehe
- the body
- tathā
- similarly
- yathā
- as
- ātmā
- the soul
- sarvatra
- everywhere
- upalipyate
- is contaminated
- ākāśham
- the space
- sarva-gatam
- all-pervading
- avasthitaḥ
- situated
- saukṣhmyāt
- due to subtlety
Themes
Related verses
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- 13.15Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without being attached to them;…
- 5.18Sages look with an equal eye on a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, on a cow,…
- 4.21Without hope, controlling the mind and the self, having abandoned all covetousness, and…