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BG 13.31 — 13.31 When a man sees the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and spreading forth from That alone, he then becomes Brahman.
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यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति |
तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा ||१३-३१||

yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvamekasthamanupaśyati . tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma sampadyate tadā ||13-31||


13.31 When a man sees the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and spreading forth from That alone, he then becomes Brahman.

Word-by-word meanings

13.31 यदा when? भूतपृथग्भावम् the whole variety of beings? एकस्थम् resting in the One? अनुपश्यति sees? ततः from that? एव alone? च and? विस्तारम् the spreading? ब्रह्म Brahman? सम्पद्यते (he) becomes? तदा then.Commentary A man attains to unity with the Supreme when he knows or realises through intuition that all these manifold forms are rooted in the One. As waves in water? atoms in the earth? rays in the sun? organs in the body? emotions in the mind? sparks in the fire? so verily are all forms r

Commentaries

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

Sri Shankaracharya

13.31 Yada, when, at the time when; anupasyati, one realizes-having reflected in accordance with the instructions of the scriptures and the teachers, one realizes as a matter of one's own direct experience that 'All this is but the Self' (Ch. 7.25.2); that bhuta-prthak-bhavam, the state of diversity of living things; is ekastham, rooted in the One, existing in the one Self; and their vistaram, manifestation, origination; tatah, eva, is also from That-when he realizes that origination in such diverse ways as, 'the vital force is from the Self, hope is from the Self, memory [Smara, memory; see Sankaracarya's Comm. on Ch. 7.13.1.-Tr.] is from the Self, space is from the Self, fire is from the Self, water is from the Self, coming into being and withdrawal are owing to the Self, food is from the Self' (op. cit. 7.26.1); tada, then, at that time; brahma sampadyate, one becomes identified with Brahman Itself. This is the import. If the same Self be the Self in all the bodies, then there arises the possiblity of Its association with their defects. Hence this is said:

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Swami Gambirananda

13.31 When one realizes that the state of diversity of living things is rooted in the One, and that their manifestation is also from That, then one becomes identified with Brahman.

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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