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BG 13.29 — 13.29 Because he who sees the same Lord eally dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the self; he goes to the highest goal.
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समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् |
न हिनस्त्यात्मनात्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ||१३-२९||

samaṃ paśyanhi sarvatra samavasthitamīśvaram . na hinastyātmanātmānaṃ tato yāti parāṃ gatim ||13-29||


13.29 Because he who sees the same Lord eally dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the self; he goes to the highest goal.

Word-by-word meanings

13.29 समम् eally? पश्यन् seeing? हि indeed? सर्वत्र everywhere? समवस्थितम् eally dwelling? ईश्वरम् the Lord? न not? हिनस्ति destroys? आत्मना by the self? आत्मानम् the Self? ततः then? याति goes? पराम् the highest? गतिम् the goal.Commentary This is the vision of a liberated sage. The Supreme Self abides in all forms. There is nothing apart from It.An ignorant man destroyes the Self by identifying himself with the body and the modifications of the mind and by not seeing the one Self in all beings.

Commentaries

Non-dualism. The individual self and Brahman are one. The world is appearance (maya). Liberation through knowledge.

Sri Shankaracharya

13.29 Hi, since; pasyan, by seeing, by realizing; samam, eally; isvaram, God, i.e., (by realizing Him) as described in the immediately preceding verse; who is samavasthitam, present alike; sarvatra, everywhere, in all beings;-what follows from seeing eally?-he na, does not; hinasti, injure; his own atmanam, Self; atmana, by the Self, by his own Self; tatah, therefore, as a result of that non-injuring; yati, he attains; the param, supreme; gatim, Goal, called Liberation. Objection: Is it not that no creature whatsoever injures himself by himself? Why do you refer to an irrelevant thing by saying, 'He does not injure৷৷.,which is like saying, 'Fire should neither be lit on the earth nor in the sky,' etc.? Reply: This defect does not arise, because it is logical with reference to an unenlightened person's ignoring the Self. For, all unillumined people ignore the very wellknown Self which is manifest and directly perceptible, and regard the non-Self as the Self. By performing righteous and unrighteous acts they destroy even that self which has been accepted, and adopt another new self. And destroying even that, they take up another. Similarly, destroying even that, they adopt another. In this way they destroy the self that had been accepted successively. Thus, all unillumined persons are destroyers of the Self. But that which is the Self in reality, even that remains as though destroyed for ever by ignorance, because of the absence of any benefit from Its presence. So, all unenlightened persons are, verily, destroyers of the Self. On the contrary, the other person who has realized the Self as described does not injure in either way [i.e. either through superimposition or through non-super-imposition.] the Self by his own Self. Therefore he attains the supreme Goal, i.e., the result stated above comes to him. Lest it be doubted that what was said in, 'seeing eally God who is present in all beings, he does not injure the Self by the Self, is improper with regard to the selves which are diverse according to the differences created by the variety in their own alities and actions, the Lord says:

(Showing excerpt)

Swami Gambirananda

13.29 Since by seeing eally God who is present alike everywhere he does not injure the Self by the Self, therefore he attains the supreme Goal.

This interpretation draws on the Advaita tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

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