13.28 Undying among the dying Krishna speaks
समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्
विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति
samaṁ sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu tiṣhṭhantaṁ parameśhvaram
vinaśhyatsv avinaśhyantaṁ yaḥ paśhyati sa paśhyati
One who sees the highest lord standing the same in all beings, undying among the dying, truly sees.
Explanation
The same in all beings; undying among the dying.
samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu — and one who sees that truly sees.
All the abstraction of this chapter arrives here, at a claim about how to look at other people. And then 13.29 gives the consequence, which is the most surprising sentence in the chapter.
Going further
Word by word
- samam
- equally
- sarveṣhu
- in all
- bhūteṣhu
- beings
- tiṣhṭhan-tam
- accompanying
- parama-īśhvaram
- Supreme Soul
- vinaśhyatsu
- amongst the perishable
- avinaśhyantam
- the imperishable
- yaḥ
- who
- paśhyati
- see
- saḥ
- they
- paśhyati
- perceive
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One who sees the highest standing the same in all beings, undying among the dying, truly sees.
And then 13.29 gives the consequence, which is the surprising part: one does not harm oneself by oneself. The ethical claim is not framed as duty to others but as the avoidance of self-injury. Harm done outward is described as harm turned inward, without any intervening argument.