13.17 Undivided, standing as if divided Krishna speaks
अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम्
भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च
avibhaktaṁ cha bhūteṣhu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam
bhūta-bhartṛi cha taj jñeyaṁ grasiṣhṇu prabhaviṣhṇu cha
Undivided among beings, and yet standing as if divided; the sustainer of beings, and their devourer and their maker.
Explanation
Undivided, and standing as if divided.
Then three roles at once: the sustainer of beings, their devourer, and their maker.
The middle one is the one people leave out. As in 7.6, the Gita will not hand destruction to somebody else — the same thing that holds beings up is what takes them back.
Word by word
- avibhaktam
- indivisible
- cha
- although
- bhūteṣhu
- amongst living beings
- vibhaktam
- divided
- iva
- apparently
- cha
- yet
- sthitam
- situated
- bhūta-bhartṛi
- the sustainer of all beings
- cha
- also
- tat
- that
- jñeyam
- to be known
- grasiṣhṇu
- the annihilator
- prabhaviṣhṇu
- the creator
- cha
- and
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