Sanskrit
सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि । ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः ॥
sarvabhūtasthamātmānaṃ sarvabhūtāni cātmani īkṣate yogayuktātmā sarvatra samadarśanaḥ
Translation
The self, harmonised by yoga, seeth the Self abiding in all beings, all beings in the Self; everywhere he seeth the same.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This is the vision the whole meditation sequence has been building toward: the self perceiving itself in all beings and all beings in itself, a reciprocal identity rather than one-directional absorption. Same-seeing (samadarshana) here generalizes verse 9’s equanimity toward different kinds of people into a full metaphysical claim about all beings whatsoever. Sama-darśana — the same equal vision as BG 5.18 — is here given its ground: the same Self is genuinely in every being, so seeing them as equal is seeing them correctly.
Study deeper
Word by word
- sarvabhūtasthamātmānaṃसर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं
- the Self seated in all beings (sarva-bhūta-stham + ātmānam)
- sarvabhūtāni cātmaniसर्वभूतानि चात्मनि
- and all beings in the Self (sarva-bhūtāni + ca + ātmani)
- īkṣate yogayuktātmāईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा
- the yoga-joined one beholds (īkṣate + yoga-yukta-ātmā)
- sarvatra samadarśanaḥसर्वत्र समदर्शनः
- seeing the same everywhere (sarvatra + sama-darśanaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
After twenty verses of technique — posture, breath, gaze, seat — the payoff the text names isn’t a private inner sensation at all; it’s a changed way of seeing other beings. All that solitary discipline turns out to terminate in a relational fact: how the self perceives everyone else. The technique was never really about being alone with the mind — it was training for a different way of being with others.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- The private discipline you build in solitude — focus, stillness, a meditation practice — isn't really finished until it changes how you see other people. If your practice hasn't shifted how you relate to others, the technique hasn't yet reached its actual point.
Professional
- Individual skill-building (deep work, technical mastery) is only worth what it changes about how you work with others — mentoring, collaboration, empathy for a teammate's constraints. Solo discipline that never reaches your relationships with colleagues has stalled halfway.
Family & Social
- Time spent alone getting calmer or more disciplined only pays off in a relationship when it visibly changes how you treat the people close to you — patience, presence, less reactivity. The private work exists for the shared life, not instead of it.
Ask yourself
A few ways to take this verse past reading. Ticks and the note stay in this browser.
Reflect on this verse
Keep exploring
Topics