टीका

Commentary

This is one of the most celebrated verses in the Bhagavad Gita, and its message is at once simple and revolutionary: the one who truly sees is the one who perceives the Supreme Lord dwelling equally in every living being. All other seeing — however sharp, however educated — is ultimately incomplete.

The verse makes a striking contrast: vinashyatsu avinashyantam — “the imperishable within the perishable.” Bodies are born and die. They age, decay, and dissolve. But within every perishable body dwells something that never perishes — the Supersoul (Paramatma), the Lord Himself. The wise person sees through the surface layer of birth and death to the eternal presence beneath.

The word samam (equally) is critical. The Lord does not dwell more in a saint than in a sinner, more in a human than in an animal. His presence is equal everywhere. What differs is the covering — the material body and its conditioned tendencies. But the divine core remains the same. This equal vision is the hallmark of genuine spiritual realization and stands in stark contrast to worldly vision, which constantly divides beings into superior and inferior based on external appearance.

The verse ends with a powerful rhetorical statement: sa pashyati — “that person truly sees.” The repetition of pashyati (sees) emphasizes that all other forms of seeing are, in the deepest sense, blindness. One may have perfect eyesight and yet be spiritually blind if one cannot perceive the divine presence in all beings. Conversely, the person who sees the Lord everywhere possesses the truest and most complete vision possible.