📿 Shloka Collection

Yatha Sarvagatam Saukshyat

Gita 13.32 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13 — Kshetra Kshetragna Vibhaga Yoga
यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।
सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥
Yatha sarvagatam saukshmyad akasham nopalipyate
Sarvatrav-asthito dehe tathatma nopalipyate
यथा
just as
सर्वगतम्
all-pervading
सौक्ष्म्यात्
because of its subtlety
आकाशम्
space
न उपलिप्यते
is not stained
सर्वत्र
everywhere
अवस्थितः
situated
देहे
in the body
तथा
in the same way
आत्मा
the Self
न उपलिप्यते
is not stained

Krishna offers a striking analogy. Space is everywhere — in dust, in mud, in perfume, in smoke. Yet space itself is never dirtied by any of these. It remains exactly what it is, no matter what passes through it.

The Self is like that. It pervades the entire body — present in every limb, every thought, every sensation. Yet the body's actions, its joys and pains, do not stain the Self. Once this is understood, a great weight lifts. The Self was never damaged. It was never corrupted. It has always been pure.

The analogy of space (akasha) is widely used in Indian philosophy. Both the Chandogya Upanishad and the Katha Upanishad employ space as a metaphor for the Self or for Brahman.

In the Gita Press edition, this is the thirty-second shloka. The next verse (13.33) uses the analogy of the sun — how the Self illuminates the entire field.

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