Bhagavad Gita BG 13.31
Chapter 13, Verse 31 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
यदा भूतपृथग्भावं एकस्थमनुपश्यति । तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा ॥
yada bhuta-prthag-bhavam ekastham anupashyati tata eva ca vistaram brahma sampadyate tada
Meaning
When one perceives the diversity of beings as resting in the One, and the expansion as arising from THAT alone — then one attains Brahman.
Understanding
The key to non-dual realization: yada bhuta-prthag-bhavam ekastham anupashyati (when one sees the prthag-bhava — the multiplicity/diversity of beings — as resting in the ONE, the eka). Not denying the diversity but seeing its foundation: all beings rest in the One. Tata eva ca vistaram (and the expansion/manifestation is from THAT alone — the same One is the source of all multiplicity). Brahma sampadyate tada (then one attains Brahman). This is not a denial of the world but a shift in seeing: the many rest in the One; the One manifests as the many. The two truths held together = Brahman-realization.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भूतपृथग्भावम् | bhuta-prthag-bhavam | the diversity of beings — the separate-ness of all creatures |
| एकस्थम् | ekastham | resting in the One, established in the One |
| अनुपश्यति | anupashyati | perceives, sees (anu = following the truth closely) |
| विस्तारम् | vistaram | expansion, manifestation, spreading out |
| ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते | brahma sampadyate | attains Brahman, becomes Brahman |
| यदा | yadā | when |
| भूत-पृथग्-भावम् | bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam | the diversity of beings |
| अनुपश्यति | anupaśyati | one perceives, one sees |
| ततः | tata eva ca | and from that alone |
| विस्तारम् | vistāram | expansion, development |
| तदा | tadā | then, at that time |
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