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

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Soul & knowledgeChapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness

13.32 13.34

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 13.33

Seeing rightly the body, soul and the Supreme

Jīva · The soul

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।

सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥ ३३ ॥

yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣmyād

ākāśaṁ nopalipyate

sarvatrāvasthito dehe

tathātmā nopalipyate

Translation

The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul situated in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

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

3 study points

The Soul Remains Apart

1
Like the sky, the soul in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though living within it.
2
Prabhupāda explains that the soul remains separate from different bodies because of its subtle nature.
3
Material eyes cannot see how the soul contacts the body or leaves it after the body is destroyed.

Key points from the purport

1st Analogy — Like the sky (because of its subtle nature) does not mix with anything, although it is all pervading; similarly the soul in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though situated in the body

e.g. Air enters mud, stool, water but does not mix with anything

Similarly the living entity is situated in varieties of bodies but remains aloof

Scientists cannot ascertain this

Connected verses · 1

Texts 13.32 & 13.33

QUESTION — Krishna states clearly in Text 13.32 that only the body changes. The soul is eternal and changeless. As the soul is nevertheless within the body, does he combine with it? ANSWER: Krishna answers in Text 13.33 by saying that matter and spirit do not mix. He explains this with two analogies in Text 13.33 and 13.34 respectively

Jnana-Chakshu: The Vision Of Knowledge

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)

Chapter 13, section V: Jnana-Chakshu: The Vision Of Knowledge