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 6.31
सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थित: ।
सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ॥ ३१ ॥
sarva-bhūta-sthitaṁ yo māṁ
bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ
sarvathā vartamāno ’pi
sa yogī mayi vartate
Such a yogī, who engages in the worshipful service of the Supersoul, knowing that I and the Supersoul are one, remains always in Me in all circumstances.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
A yogī who serves the Supersoul, knowing Him to be one with Kṛṣṇa, remains in Kṛṣṇa in all circumstances.
Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa is present as the Supersoul in every heart. A devotee always acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is liberated.
Focus your attention on Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual form and keep serving Him through your various activities.
Realizing Krishna to be the origin of Supersoul, the perfect yogi worships and serves Him and thus always remains in Him in all circumstances
How a yogi sees the Supersoul
One sees within himself the plenary portion of Krishna as Vishnu – With four hands, holding conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower
The yogi should know that Vishnu is non-different from Krishna, who is present as Supersoul in everyone’s heart
There is no difference between the innumerable Supersouls present in the innumerable hearts of living entities FOCUS OF LEARNING: PURPORT 6.31 continued…
There is no difference between a Krishna conscious person engaged in transcendental service of Krishna and a perfect yogi engaged in meditation on the Supersoul
Yogi in Krishna consciousness – Even though he may be engaged in various activities in material world – remains always situated in Krishna
Ref. Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.187: “nikhilasv apy...” – A devotee acting in Krishna consciousness is already liberated
Ref. Narada-pancaratra “dik-kalady...” – By concentrating one’s attention on the transcendental form of Krishna, who is all pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Krishna and then one attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him
Krishna consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice
Understanding that Krishna is present as Paramatma in everyone’s heart, and Vishnu is non-different from Krishna, makes the yogi faultless
Ref Gopal-tapani-upanisad 1.2.1 – This confirms the inconceivable potency of the Lord: “Although the Lord is one, He is present in innumerable hearts as many”
Ref. Smrti sastra: “Vishnu is one, and yet He is certainly all-pervading...”
Texts 6.30 & 6.31
In the following verse Krishna directly describes Supersoul realization as worshipful service to Him, if the yogi has proper knowledge.
Texts 6.31 & 6.32
By his proper worship, the yogi understands the actual situation of the soul in the material world. Krishna will describe that next.
Krishna describes the practices of astanga-yoga
The result are ‘Yogarudha (the perfectional stage)’ and ultimately ‘the vision of the Supersoul’.
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: bhakti, śaraṇāgati.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 6.31 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to bhakti & surrender?
Offer one act today with devotion.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.