Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 10 (BG 15.10) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

15.10 उत्क्रामन्तम् departing? स्थितम् staying? वा or? अपि also? भुञ्जानम् enjoying? वा or? गुणान्वितम् united with the Gunas? विमूढाः the deluded? न not? अनुपश्यन्ति do see (Him)? पश्यन्ति behold (Him)? ज्ञानचक्षुषः those who possess the eye of knowledge.Commentary Though the Self is nearest and comes most easily within their field of vision or consciousness? the ignorant and the deluded are not able to behold Him? because they are swayed by the alities of Nature their minds constantly run towards the sensual objects and are saturated with passion they identify the Self with the body their vision is engrossed in external forms. But those who are endowed with the inner eye of intuition do behold Him.Yama said to Nachiketas The selfexistent Brahma created the senses with outgoing tendencies therefore man beholds the external universe and not the internal Self. He aded But some wise men with their senses turned away from the objects? desirous of immortality? turn their gaze inwards and behold the Self within (seated in their heart). (Katha Upanishad IV.1)Those who possess the inner eye of knowledge behold that the Self is entirely distinct from the body. They realise the Selfs separate existence from the body and know that the body moves and acts on account of Its presence therein? just as the iron moves and acts in the presence of the magnet.

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 15.10 This is a universal truth experienced everywhere: though a person of ordinary intellect may perceive an object, he cannot comprehend it fully and accurately. True knowledge of a thing is available only to those who are learned in that subject. Any person may read a literary work, but only a scholar of language can truly understand the author's vision and experience its complete beauty. Only a jeweler can assess the quality and true value of gems; others can merely look upon them. All people may hear music, but only a skilled musician can appreciate the classical subtlety and beauty of supreme singing. Similarly, it is through the presence of this conscious Self that we experience objects, feelings, and thoughts. Yet only the Self-realized person recognizes this and lives as the very nature of the Self. The Self eternally exists; it never ceases to be. At the time of leaving the body, it is the Self that provides consciousness to the subtle form. Throughout a particular life, the Self illuminates all experiences. The Self is the revealer of mental experiences of pleasure and pain, and of the intellect's judgments. In this way, the knowledge of the sattvic (peaceful), rajasic (agitated), and tamasic (deluded) qualities of our mind—which changes moment by moment—is possible only through consciousness. Yet the unwise fail to recognize that very presence through which all experience becomes possible. Ordinary people become so attached and absorbed in their experiences and their objects that their entire attention is drawn to external things and the beauty of beautiful forms. They neglect and fail to recognize that Self whose presence alone makes any experience possible. Entirely opposite to these are the wise ones who, turning away from the proliferation of names and forms, behold the essential truth underlying this proliferation—that Brahman which, dwelling as the Self in their hearts, illuminates all. They perceive this Self-principle through the eye of wisdom. The eye of wisdom is not some inner sense organ. When a seeker endowed with discrimination and dispassion contemplates the Self through the teachings of Vedanta, the Self-knowledge gained from that contemplation becomes the eye of wisdom. Sri Shankaracharya has given an artistic description of this eye of wisdom in his work Atma Bodha. In the next verse, we shall describe the reason for the failure of the ignorant and the success of the wise in the vision of the Self.