1 · Learn3 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

Or browse by chapter
Chapter

Chapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness · 35 verses

1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Krishna’s natureChapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness
13.1713.19

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 13.18

The supreme knower and all-pervading Supersoul

Īśvara · God

ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमस: परमुच्यते ।

ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम् ॥ १८ ॥

jyotiṣām api taj jyotis

tamasaḥ param ucyate

jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ

hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam

Translation

He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

The Lord in Every Heart

  1. 1

    The Lord gives light to all shining things and is beyond material darkness. He is knowledge, its object and its goal, and lives in everyone’s heart.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that the Supersoul is the supreme controller and shelter of all beings. He is always different from the individual soul.

  3. 3

    Surrender to the Supreme Lord for liberation. Only by knowing Him can one go beyond birth and death.

Key points from the purport

He is the “Source of all knowledge and enlightenment”

Source of light in all luminous objects

Is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested

He is knowledge, object of knowledge and goal of knowledge

He is situated in everyone’s heart

a

Supersoul is the source of light of sun, moon, stars

Ref. Vedic literatures: Spiritual kingdom has no need of sun or moon because the effulgence of the Lord is there

Material world – Brahmajoyti is covered by mahat-tattva and therefore we need the sun, moon etc.

b

This establishes that the Supreme Lord is not in the material world but far far away – beyond the darkness of the material world

Ref. Svetasvatara Upanisad 3.8 – “aditya varnam tamsah parastat”

c

His knowledge is transcendental

Ref. Vedic literatures – “Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge”

To one anxious to go to spiritual world, knowledge is given by the Lord in the heart

Ref. Vedic literatures (Svetasvatara Upanisad) explains the goal of ultimate knowledge:

“Only by knowing Him – One can surpass the boundaries of birth and death”

d

He is everyone’s heart

But He is different from the soul (There are two knowers)

He has hands and legs everywhere, but jiva’s hands and legs are localized

Ref. Svetasvatara Upanisad – Supreme Personality of Godhead is Prabhu or master of all living entities and therefore He is the shelter of all living entities

Connected verses · 2

Texts 13.7 & 13.18

Finally, in Text 13.18, Krishna clearly reveals the identity of the one He has been describing. The jneyam is the Supersoul, who is hrdi-sarvasya, within the heart of all. Srila Prabhupada kindly informed us earlier in his translations and purports to Texts 13.14, 13.15, and 13.17 that the supreme knowable object, who has been described as unknowable, is nevertheless situated in everyone’s heart as Paramatma. Srila Prabhupada cites several verses from the Svetasvatara Upanishad to substantiate that, these Bhagavad-gita texts have been describing neither the living entity nor Brahman, but the Supersoul

Texts 13.18 & 13.19

Krishna ends his explanation of the ‘knowable’ by describing to Arjuna the qualifications of one able to understand these topics.

Further reading

Krishna Explains The Object Of Knowledge

(Krishna addresses the 6th question)

The soul can know the Supersoul, the ultimate object of knowledge

Only devotees can understand - the field of activities (the body), process of knowledge and both the soul and Supersoul

Chapter 13, section III: Krishna Explains The Object Of Knowledge
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. jyotiṣāmin all luminous objects
  2. apialso
  3. tatthat
  4. jyotiḥthe source of light
  5. tamasaḥthe darkness
  6. parambeyond
  7. ucyateis said
  8. jñānamknowledge
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: bhagavān, vibhūti.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 13.18 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to krishna’s nature?

Practice

Notice something excellent and see it as His opulence.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 13.13The supreme knower and all-pervading SupersoulBG 13.14The supreme knower and all-pervading SupersoulBG 11.32Krishna reveals Himself as timeBG 11.51Composure returns in Krishna’s personal presence
Live this todayKnow the Two KnowersA practice from BG 13.3, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction