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.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 13.31
यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति ।
तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा ॥ ३१ ॥
yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam
eka-stham anupaśyati
tata eva ca vistāraṁ
brahma sampadyate tadā
When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
One reaches the Brahman conception by seeing living beings everywhere without judging their identities by their different bodies.
Prabhupāda explains that different bodies arise from the soul’s desires and contact with material nature. These bodies do not truly belong to the soul.
Learn to see beyond bodily labels. This spiritual vision purifies consciousness and helps one develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness in one’s spiritual identity.
Only the body acts — Living entity is distinct from the field of activities
A sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies
Thus absence of any material differentiation because of different bodies
Sees how beings are expanded everywhere, and thus attains to the “Brahman conception”
Purified consciousness can thus develop Krishna consciousness
Texts 13.31 & 13.32
What does a person with Brahman vision see?
Those who see the distinction between the body, its owner and the Supersoul, and who recognize the process of liberation, can attain the Supreme goal (13.35)
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: ātmā, jñāna.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 13.31 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?
Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.