Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Verse 15 (BG 13.15) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

13.15 सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासम् shining by the functions of all senses? सर्वेन्द्रयविवर्जितम् (yet) without the senses? असक्तम् unattached? सर्वभृत् (yet) supporting all? च and? एव even? निर्गुणम् devoid of alities? गुणभोक्तृ (yet) experiencer of the alities? च and.Commentary Brahman sees without eyes? hears without ears? smells without nose? eats without mouth? feels without skin? grasps without hands? walks without feet. He is the unseen seer? the unheard hearer? the unthought thinker. Other than Him there is no seer? no hearer? no thinker. He is the Self? the Inner Ruler? the Immortal. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III.7.23) He is free from the,alities of Nature and yet He is the enjoyer of the alities.All the senses The five organs of knowledge and the five organs of action? the inner senses? mind and intellect come under the term all the senses. The organs of action and those of knowledge perform their functions in conjunction with the mind and the intellect. They cannot function independently. Therefore? the mind and the intellect are included in the term all the senses.Brahman is transcendental and unmanifest? but It manifests Itself through the limiting adjuncts of the extrnal and the internal senses. As It is destitute of the senses It is unattached and yet It supports all. It is the support or substratum of everything. It is destitute of the alities of Nature and yet It is the enjoyer of those alities. Brahman is really mysterious.This verse is taken from the Svetasvataropanishad 3.17.

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

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

Modern

# BG 13.15 The Supreme Brahman, which transcends all description, may be indicated through a method of paradoxical language. When the intellect forms a conception upon hearing one statement, a second statement negates that very conception. Thus, naturally, the intellect becomes free from imagination and rests in the experience of its own non-conceptual nature. This paradoxical language is the distinctive feature of spiritual scriptures. However, those who engage in superficial study of the scriptures, failing to grasp the underlying principle of scriptural instruction, cite such verses to justify their disbelief and atheism. This verse is drawn from the Upanishads. It is through the consciousness of the atman that all the senses perform their respective functions. Yet it appears that the atman, inseparable from them, itself acts and possesses these senses. But upon analysis, it becomes clear that the senses are material substances and perishable, whereas the atman that manifests through them and bestows consciousness upon them is eternal and unchanging. In brief, from the perspective of limiting conditions, the atman appears to be their sustainer; yet in its own essential nature, it is entirely free from all senses. Electrical energy is neither the light of the bulb nor the heat of the heater; yet when manifested through these instruments, electricity itself appears as light and heat. The atman is unattached, yet sustains all things. To comprehend Brahman as an unattached sustainer is not simple for those beginning their spiritual study. Nevertheless, the great teachers of our tradition have endeavored to explain this through illustrations and analogies. No single wave is the entire ocean; all waves combined are not the ocean. We cannot say that the ocean is attached to those waves, for the ocean is their very nature. Though unattached, none other than the ocean sustains all of them. Cotton exists in all garments, yet garments are not cotton. Still, cotton alone sustains the garment. Similarly, this creation of multiplicity is not consciousness-Brahman itself, yet Brahman alone sustains all. The atman is without qualities, yet experiences the qualities. The human mind always functions under the influence of the three qualities—sattva, rajas, and tamas. The atman perpetually illuminates the effects of these three qualities. Because the illuminator is free from the nature of the illuminated, the atman is without qualities. Yet only a conscious mind can experience these qualities; therefore, it is said here that the atman, though itself without qualities, also experiences the qualities through the limiting conditions of the mind. Thus, in this verse, the atman is indicated from both perspectives—with limiting conditions and without limiting conditions. Moreover, the atman manifested within individual limiting conditions dwells within all beings everywhere.