Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Verse 33

Chapter 13 – Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।
सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥

Transliteration

yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyādākāśaṃ nopalipyate .
sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate ॥

Meaning

Just as all-pervading space, because of its subtlety, is not tainted by anything, so the Self, present everywhere in the body, is not tainted.

Word meanings

यथा – just as
सर्वगतम् – all-pervading
सौक्ष्म्यात् – because of subtlety
आकाशम् – space, ether
न – not
उपलिप्यते – is tainted
सर्वत्र – everywhere
अवस्थितः – present, abiding
देहे – in the body
तथा – so
आत्मा – the Self
न – not
उपलिप्यते – is tainted

Anvaya (word order)

यथा सर्वगतम् आकाशं सौक्ष्म्यात् न उपलिप्यते, तथा देहे सर्वत्र अवस्थितः आत्मा न उपलिप्यते ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna said that the Supreme Self dwells in the body yet is untainted. Since this is not easy to grasp, he offers the analogy of akasha, space. Space is everywhere: in mud and in perfume, in smoke and in the waters of the Ganga. Yet mud does not soil it, perfume does not scent it, smoke does not blacken it. The reason is its subtlety, saukshmyat.

Staining happens only between things of a similar order of grossness; earth can stain cloth because both are gross. Space is the subtlest of the elements, so gross things that exist within it cannot leave a mark on it. The Self is subtler still, for it is the consciousness that reveals even space. Therefore no merit or defect of body, senses or mind can reach it.

Shankara takes this analogy as showing the Self's utter non-attachment, echoing the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: asango hy ayam purushah, this Person is truly unattached. Ramanuja likewise reads it as the purity of the individual self's essential nature: living in the body of a god, a human or an animal, the self is not contaminated by the characteristics of those bodies.

Note that Krishna says dehe sarvatra, everywhere in the body. The Self is not confined to some corner of the body but pervades it as consciousness, and yet remains untouched by it. The analogy teaches the seeker not to despair on seeing faults within: those faults belong to the mind, not to the Self, and the mind can be purified.

Context

After verse 32, Krishna gives Arjuna the analogy of space to illustrate the Self's freedom from taint. In the next verse he uses the image of the sun to show that the one knower of the field illumines the entire field.

Life lesson

However much impurity or hardship life contains, our true nature is never soiled by it. Knowing this, we can admit our mistakes and correct them without ever regarding ourselves as worthless.

Key terms

Akasha: space, the subtlest all-pervading element
Saukshmya: subtlety
Asangata: non-attachment, being unbound by anything