Yatha Prakashayaty Ekah

This may be the most luminous analogy in the chapter. One sun lights up the entire world. It is far away, yet everything becomes visible because of it. The sun does not become any of the things it illuminates. It does not take on their color or shape.

In the same way, one Kshetragna — the soul — illuminates the entire body-field. It makes the senses work, the mind think, the intellect decide. Yet it takes on none of their qualities. It remains apart, untouched, radiant.

The sun analogy also appears in the Katha Upanishad (2.2.15): 'Na tatra suryo bhati' — there the sun does not shine, meaning Brahman's light exceeds even the sun's. Here the comparison is reversed: just as the sun lights the outer world, the soul lights the inner body.

In the Gita Press edition, this is the thirty-third shloka. The next and final verse (13.34) completes the chapter.