Chapter 13, Verse 29

Original Sanskrit verse

Transliteration

English translation

For he who truly sees the same Lord dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the self; rather, he attains the highest goal.

— Swami Sivananda

Commentary

This is the vision of a liberated sage. The Supreme Self abides in all forms. There is nothing apart from It. An ignorant man destroyes the Self by identifying himself with the body and the modifications of the mind and by not seeing the one Self in all beings. He has a blurred vision. His mind is very gross. He cannot think of the subtle Self. He is swayed by the force of ignorance. He mistakes the impure body for the pure Self. He has false knowledge. But the sage has knowledge of the Self or true knowledge and so he beholds the one Self in all beings. An ignorant man is the slayer of his Self. He destroys this body and takes another body and so on. But he who beholds the one Self in all beings does not destroy the Self by the self. Therefore he attains the Supreme Goal; i.e.; he attains release from the round of birth and death. Knowledge of the Self leads to liberation or salvation. Knowledge of the Absolute annihilates the ignorance in toto. If the ignorance is destroyed and false knowledge is also destroyed; all evils are simultaneously destroyed. Those who have realised that unity of the Self in all these diverse forms are never caught in the meshes of birth and death. They attain the state of Turiya (the fourth state beyond waking; dreaming and deep sleep) where form and sound do not exist. The self is everybodys friend and also his enemy as well. The idea first expressed in chapter VI; verses 5 and 6 is repeated here. (Cf. XVIII.20)

Commentary by Swami Sivananda