सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः | सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ||३१||
sarvabhūtasthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ | sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī mayi vartate || 31 ||
Established in unity, worshipping Me as dwelling in all beings — whatever the mode of life, that yogi abides in Me.
Word by word (3)
- sarva-bhūta-sthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajati ekatavm āsthitaḥ
- — who worships Me as dwelling in all beings, established in unity · sarva-bhūta-sthitam = dwelling/stationed in all beings. māṃ bhajati = worships Me (√bhaj = to serve, to worship, to share — the root of bhakti and bhajan). ekatvam āsthitaḥ = established in oneness/unity (eka = one, tva = -ness, āsthita = established in). This is the devotional expression of V29's sama-darśana and V30's mutual-presence: the yogi, established in the recognition that all beings are one (ekatva), worships Krishna specifically IN all beings (not despite them, not around them, but IN them). The action of worship (bhajati) is directed at the Krishna who is sarva-bhūta-sthita (dwelling in all beings).
- sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī mayi vartate
- — whatever the mode of living, whatever activities — that yogi abides in Me · sarvathā = in all ways, whatever the mode. vartamānaḥ = living, moving, acting. api = even. sa yogī = that yogi. mayi vartate = abides in Me, lives in Me (mayi = in Me; vartate = abides, dwells, lives). The radical implication: there is no longer any activity, any 'mode of life,' that is outside the divine presence. The V31 yogi abides in Krishna in all states — eating, sleeping, working, resting. The chapter has progressively built from the prescribed conditions of V10-17 (solitude, regulated life, correct posture) to V31's liberation: the yogi who has completed the practice is free from the prescribed conditions because all conditions are now within the divine life.
- ekatva (key concept)
- — unity, oneness — the single recognition that grounds all perception and action · ekatva = oneness, unity (eka = one + tva = -ness, the quality of being). This is the Gita's term for the recognition underlying V29's sama-darśana and V30's mutual presence. When ekatva is established (āsthita = seated in, grounded in), the yogi doesn't see unity as a philosophical concept or a meditation experience — they are stationed in it as their ground of being. From this ground, bhajati (worship) flows naturally in all directions, toward all beings. V31's ekatva-āsthita is the Gita's term for the stable, integrated non-dual recognition.
The yogi who is grounded in the recognition of oneness (ekatva) and worships Krishna as present in all beings — no matter what they are doing or how they are living — that yogi is always abiding in Krishna. The samādhi that began as a meditation state has become a 24-hour reality.
A modern analogy
A musician who is completely master of their instrument doesn't need to think about scales and finger positions while playing — the technique has become transparent. They abide in the music whatever they play. V31's yogi is like that: the practice of V23-26 has been so thoroughly integrated that the 'technique' (meditation, returning the mind, releasing saṃkalpas) is transparent — they abide in Krishna whatever they are doing.
What it does NOT mean
V31 does NOT say 'everything a yogi does is equally dharmic' or 'the yogi can do anything and it's fine.' 'Sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa mayi vartate' means their inner abiding is always in Me — their inner life is grounded — not that their outer actions are beyond ethical consideration.
Take with you
- V31 is the Gita's vision of the fully integrated yogic life: not alternating between 'spiritual practice' and 'ordinary life' but a life in which the recognition of oneness (ekatva) pervades all activity. This is the aspiration that sustains the rigours of V23-26 practice.
- Ekatva (oneness) as a daily orientation: start each day with a brief acknowledgement of the ground of unity — 'I am the same ātman as every being I will encounter today.' Let this recognition, however faint, color the day's interactions.
- V31's 'sarvathā vartamāno'pi' (whatever the mode of living) is explicitly inclusive: the yogi doesn't need a special vocation, lifestyle, or role to abide in Krishna. The bhikṣu and the householder, the scholar and the farmer — the V31 state is available in all modes of life.
V31 is the culmination of the V27-31 progression: from the yogi's inner state (V27: brahma-bhūta, supreme bliss) through the perceptual shift (V29: Self in all, all in Self) and the relational guarantee (V30: mutual non-loss) to the fully integrated life (V31: established in unity, worships Me in all beings, abides in Me in all activities). The phrase 'ekatvam āsthitaḥ' (established in unity/oneness) is the Gita's term for jīvanmukti's stability — not the occasional glimpse of unity but the settled ground in which one lives. 'Āsthita' (established, seated firmly in) implies permanence and stability: this is not a vision that comes and goes but a ground that remains. V31 also closes the loop opened in V10: 'the yogi practises alone, in a fixed place' — that was the prescribed condition for beginners. V31 shows where the practice leads: the beginner's 'alone in a fixed place' has become the adept's 'abides in Me whatever the mode of life.' The chapter tracks the complete arc from first instructions to final integration.
Advaita lens
V31 is the Advaita jīvanmukta's life described from outside: established in ekatva (non-dual recognition), worshipping the Self in all (for the ātman is in all beings), living in all modes while always abiding in the Self. Shankaracharya: the 'mayi vartate' (abides in Me) is the ātman abiding in itself — for the jīvanmukta, there is nowhere else to be. All activity occurs within the ātman that they are.
Bhakti lens
V31 is bhakti's fullest expression in the Gita: 'bhajati' (worships) the divine as dwelling in all beings. The bhakta who began by worshipping Krishna in the temple or the image arrives at V31: Krishna is everywhere, so every action is worship. The bhakta is always in bhajan — always in the act of devotion — because the object of devotion is everywhere.
Karma-Yoga lens
V31 is the karma yogi's destination: every action is now worship (bhajati) of the divine that dwells in all beings. The karma yogi who began by doing actions without attachment (Ch.3) and seeing themselves as non-doers (Ch.4) has arrived at V31: all action is now divine service, all beings are divine presences, and all life is yoga — regardless of its outer form.
Modern parallels
Brother Lawrence's 'Practice of the Presence of God' (17th c. Carmelite) is V31's Western equivalent: the practice of maintaining awareness of God's presence in all activities, including the most mundane (washing pots in the kitchen). V31's 'sarvathā vartamāno'pi mayi vartate' is exactly Brother Lawrence's vision: whatever you do, wherever you are, God is the ground and the company. This convergence across traditions is striking.
Practice
End each practice session with a brief V31 orientation before re-entering activity: 'I carry this (whatever was present in the sitting — stillness, clarity, peace) into what follows. I look for the same Self in all beings I encounter.' This transition practice is the beginning of V31's integration: the sitting and the moving become one continuum.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Who, established in unity, worships Me as dwelling in all beings — whatever his mode of living, that yogi abides in Me. [1]
He who being established in unity, worships Me, who am dwelling in all beings, whatever his mode of life, that Yogi abides in Me. [4]
He who, established in unity, worshippeth Me who dwells in all beings — that Yogi, though in all activities, yet abideth in Me. [5]
The Yogi who, fixed in unity, adores me as abiding in all beings, lives in Me however he may be living. [6]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Who sees Me everywhere and all in Me — I am never lost to that one, nor that one to Me.
Who measures others' joy and pain by the standard of their own — seeing the same everywhere — is the supreme yogi.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
From whom all beings arise, by whom all is pervaded — worshiping THAT through one's own duty, one attains perfection.
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
Of all yogis, the one whose inner self is merged in Me, worshipping with śraddhā — that one I hold to be most united.