Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 10

Chapter 15 – Purushottama Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम् ।
विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुषः ॥

Transliteration

utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam .
vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñānacakṣuṣaḥ ॥

Meaning

Whether it is departing, staying, or enjoying while bound up with the gunas, the deluded do not perceive it; those who have the eye of knowledge see it.

Word meanings

उत्क्रामन्तम् – departing (from the body)
स्थितम् – staying (in the body)
वा – or
अपि – even
भुञ्जानम् – enjoying
गुणान्वितम् – associated with the gunas
विमूढाः – the deluded
न – not
अनुपश्यन्ति – perceive, discern
पश्यन्ति – see
ज्ञानचक्षुषः – those with the eye of knowledge

Anvaya (word order)

उत्क्रामन्तम् स्थितम् वा अपि भुञ्जानम् वा गुणान्वितम् (एनम्) विमूढाः न अनुपश्यन्ति, ज्ञानचक्षुषः पश्यन्ति ।

Explanation

The previous three verses described three phases of the soul’s life: taking up and leaving bodies, dwelling in a body, and experiencing objects through the senses. All of this is going on within us every moment, yet Krishna says the deluded do not see it. What a paradox: what is nearest to us is what we overlook most completely.

The reason lies in the word gunanvitam: the soul appears bound up with the gunas, wrapped in experiences of pleasure, pain and confusion. Attention is so absorbed in objects that one never asks who it is that experiences them. A cinema audience becomes so lost in the story on the screen that it forgets the projector’s light, without which there would be no film at all.

But the jnana-chakshushah, those with the eye of knowledge, do see. That eye is opened by scripture, the teacher and discrimination. In 13.34 Krishna said that those who discern the field and its knower with the eye of wisdom reach the Supreme. In chapter 11 Arjuna was given divine sight to behold the cosmic form; here such sight, in the form of knowledge, is offered to every sincere seeker.

Shankara explains that the eye of knowledge is discriminative understanding born of scripture, which recognises the Self as distinct from body and senses. For Ramanuja it is the insight that the soul is different from prakriti and is of the nature of knowledge and bliss. Madhva sees it as knowledge granted by the Lord’s grace, revealing the soul as distinct from the body and dependent on God. The next verse adds that striving yogis see it, while those of impure mind do not, even with effort.

Context

Verses 7 to 9 described the soul’s coming and going and its enjoyment of objects. This verse concludes that description: the deluded do not perceive the soul, while the wise do. Verse 11 speaks of the effort of yogis and the need for inner purification.

Life lesson

We see the whole world yet rarely notice the one who sees. Pausing each day to ask ‘who is experiencing all this?’ begins to open the eye of knowledge. One who learns to look within finds that the outer world, too, is transformed.

Key terms

Jnana-chakshu: the eye of knowledge, discerning insight
Vimudha: deluded, lacking discrimination
Gunanvita: bound up with the gunas and their experiences