A core teaching · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Real seeing notices one imperishable presence in every changing form.”
One who sees the supreme being equally present in all beings, imperishable amid the perishing, truly sees.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyequally · in all · beings · standing · the supreme being · among the perishing · imperishable · who · sees · that one · truly sees
True seeing means recognizing one unchanging presence in every living being, even while bodies and forms keep changing and disappearing.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga" (Field and Knower of the Field).
Verse 28 sits in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga, "Field and Knower of the Field". The chapter has 35 verses in total.
In a hospital corridor, a stranger's exhausted father and your own sick mother look like different worlds. Krishna's way of seeing would find the same imperishable lord in both, while their bodies age and fail.
Did you like this verse?
The one who sees the supreme lord present equally among beings, unperishing among the perishing, sees, Krishna says.
What this verse means
True seeing means recognizing one unchanging presence in every living being, even while bodies and forms keep changing and disappearing.
Context & commentary
While Arjuna is overwhelmed by the lives about to be lost, Krishna turns the lesson inward and outward at once. He says the one who sees the supreme being equally present in all beings sees correctly, because forms perish while the one reality remains.
What it looks like today
In a hospital corridor, a stranger's exhausted father and your own sick mother look like different worlds. Krishna's way of seeing would find the same imperishable lord in both, while their bodies age and fail.
“The world feels less divided when you stop sorting beings into separate categories and notice the same presence in all.”
Explore related themes: kshetra kshetrajna (10 verses)