यदा भूतपृथग्भावम् एकस्थम् अनुपश्यति । तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा ॥
yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam eka-stham anupaśyati | tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma sampadyate tadā ||
When the yogi sees all diversity resting in the One and spreading from that One alone — he becomes Brahman.
Word by word (4)
- yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam
- — when the separate-existence of beings (bhūta = beings; pṛthak = separate; bhāva = existence)
- eka-stham anupaśyati
- — sees (them) as resting in the One (eka-stham = established in the One; anupaśyati = perceives)
- tata eva ca vistāram
- — and the expansion from that One alone (tataḥ eva = from that very One; vistāra = unfolding, expansion)
- brahma sampadyate tadā
- — then (one) becomes Brahman (brahma sampadyate = attains/becomes Brahman)
When one perceives all the apparent variety of beings as resting in the One — and sees even their expansion as proceeding from that same One — at that very moment, one becomes Brahman.
A modern analogy
Many waves appear separate, but they are all ocean. Seeing the ocean in every wave is seeing the One in all beings — and that recognition itself is the homecoming into Brahman.
Krishna approaches the close of kṣetra-kṣetrajña teaching by naming the result of realized sama-darśana. The multiplicity of beings is real as appearance — but all rest in and arise from the ONE Paramātmā. Recognizing this unity-in-diversity transforms the seer into Brahman itself (brahma sampadyate).
The verse describes the experiential moment of non-dual recognition: one simultaneously sees diversity (pṛthag-bhāva) and sees it arising from and remaining in the ONE ground. This co-perception of the many-in-the-One dissolves the limited kṣetrajña identity and reveals the universal Kṣetrajña. SW: 'inherent in the One… expansion from That One alone' — both the resting-in and the arising-from are simultaneous.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
When a man realises the whole variety of beings as resting in the One, and is an evolution from that One alone, then he becomes Brahman. [1]
When he sees the separate existence of all beings inherent in the One, and their expansion from That One alone, he then becomes Brahman. [4]
When he perceives the various natures of beings as centred in one place, and their expansion from that place alone, he then obtains Brahman. [9]
When one perceives the various bodies of all beings as resting in the One, and their expansion from that One alone, one then attains Brahman. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.
Once that joy is found, no other gain seems greater — established in it, even the heaviest sorrow cannot shake you.
Knowing this you will not fall into delusion again — you will see all beings in the Self, and thus in Me.
Yogis act with body, mind, intellect, and bare senses — abandoning attachment — solely for self-purification.
Sāttvic dhṛti: unswerving through yoga, holds fast the activities of mind, prāṇa, and senses.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.