If the same Parameshvara abides equally in all beings, what changes when I treat another person with contempt — is it only a social wrong, or am I also failing to see correctly?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

The verse says the Lord abides in perishable beings without himself perishing — does grief at someone's death contradict this vision, or can grief and clear-seeing coexist?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

Three schools (Advaita, Vishishtadvaita, Dvaita) agree that 'samam pashyati' is the mark of right perception but disagree sharply on what is equal — does the disagreement matter for practice, or does the practice converge regardless?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

If this equal-seeing is the criterion of true vision, is it achievable through ethical training alone, or does it require the prior metaphysical work of ksetra-ksetrajnya viveka that chapters 13.1-26 have built?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

The verse is in the third person: 'he who sees... he sees.' Why does the Gita describe the seer rather than command 'see thus'? What does that grammatical choice imply about how this vision is obtained?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

Sridhara and Madhusudana both note the connection between this seeing and 'na sa bhuyo abhijayate' (no rebirth) — does this mean the vision is a once-and-done event, or can it be lost and must be re-stabilised?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

In daily life, equal-seeing could mean indifference (same treatment for all regardless of context) or equanimity (same inner stance regardless of outcome) — which meaning does each school actually endorse, and which is more workable?

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/13/27.

BG 13.27 — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 13.27Chapter 13 · Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम् ।

विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥

samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaram

vinaśyatsv avinaśyantaṃ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees.

ekras · bhāṣya

Parameshvara abiding samam — equally — in all beings; avinashyantam — imperishable — in the vinashyatsu, in the perishing. Whoever sees this — sah pashyati — that one truly sees.

Krishna gives the bhakta a vision-test: do you see the imperishable in the perishing, the equal-presence amid the unequal forms? If yes — you see. The verse is one of the chapter's most quoted: the formula that holds the seeing tight.

Shankara reads samam tishthantam as the kshetrajna whose nature is undifferentiated pure Consciousness, neither increased by its presence in a deva-body nor diminished in a blade of grass. The error corrected here is precisely the one that drives samsara: seeing the witness as variably present, more in one body, less in another. The samam — equality — refuses that variability. The avinashyantam in vinashyatsu — the imperishable amid the perishing — is the chapter's whole burden.

Madhusudana reads the verse as the unfolding of yah evam vetti from 13.23 — who truly knows the purusha. The jagat appears vishameshu — unequal; chanchaleshu — unstable; badhya-badhaka — mutually obstructing; like gandharva-nagara, a mirage city. Yet Parameshvara stands sama, eka-rupa, aparinamamana — unchanging — through it all. The seeing of this stability through the apparent flux is the chapter's true seeing. The bhakti is the form that this seeing takes.

Ramanuja reads samam as uniformity of the Self's knowing-nature, jnatritva, across deva, human, plant bodies — not identity of the Self with those bodies. The Lord, of the same cognitive nature in all beings, is unaffected by the variable bodies and senses that constitute His sharira. The bhakta who sees this sees the relational structure: every body is the Lord's body; every knowing within is His knowing rendered finite.

Madhva reads samata as Hari's sovereign impartiality: He governs every creature with the same transcendent authority, yet remains utterly distinct from them. The vinashyat are the perishing bodies; the avinashyat is svatantra Hari, eternally distinct from prakriti and from each paratantra jiva. The seeing is the bhakta's recognition of this layered structure.

Vallabha reads samam tishthantam as Shri Krishna whose ananda-svarupa is entirely present in every being, not diminished by the perishing of the body-vessels. The perishing bodies are lila-vessels that come and go while Krishna's presence is unbroken. The verse is an invitation: the very sight of equal divine presence amid universal flux is the eye of prasada — granted, not earned.

Shridhara reads the verse as the culmination of the sankhya-discrimination unfolded from 13.1 onward. Having distinguished kshetra from kshetrajna, the aspirant now perceives the one Ishvara abiding equally in all sthavara-jangama beings, imperishable through the bodies' perishing. This double seeing is samyag-darshana — right vision.

Context

where

Chapter 13 · Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 13.26

Whatever exists, moving or still, arises from the union of field and field-knower. Know that, Arjuna.

What's going on

Whoever sees the imperishable Lord abiding equally in all perishable beings, that one truly sees.

Sūtras through this verse (54)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.───→here13.27───→18.78Sealed: the means stands on the end stands.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

13.2Field and knower both predicate Me.───→here13.27───→13.32Touches without being stained.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

13.2Architectural claim: the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here13.27───→14.1Two-verse prelude names guṇa-vibhāga.

show all 54

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

13.1Vākyārtha hexad begins. Anchor.───→here13.27───→15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

13.1Ch 13 opens by binding to the middle hexad.───→here13.27───→18.1Final chapter compresses seed and answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.───→here13.27───→18.66Closing verse opened by doubt-and-answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.───→here13.27───→14.22Guṇātīta-lakṣaṇa follows the same rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

13.1Prakṛti's autonomy blocked at boundary. Anchor.───→here13.27───→14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

13.1Same discipline at the keystone chapter.───→here13.27───→18.1Final chapter opens with the same form.

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The same Lord seated equal station · station 2/6

───→here13.27───→

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Atman / Brahman pillar. 'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' Thestation · station 7/8

───→here13.27───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

13.7Itihasa stories and the witness virtues. 'Amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa kshantir ───→here13.27───→17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netibetween

6.29'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvat───→here13.27───→13.32'Anaditvan nirgunatvat paramatma'yam avyayah, sharira-stho'pi Kaunteya na karoti

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

13.1Open the third ṣaṭka: field and knower.───→here13.27───→14.1Beyond sāṅkhya: the modes that bind.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśabetween

13.22Witness, consenter, upholder.───→here13.27───→13.32Touches without being stained.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.───→here13.27───→18.61The yantrin reading forecloses the residue.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

13.2The whole vibhūti clinches sāmānādhikaraṇya.───→here13.27───→18.42Even brāhmaṇa grounded here.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

13.20Both natures cause the body's binding.───→here13.27───→14.5Three modes bind the soul.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

13.21Clinging to modes is why you are reborn.───→here13.27───→15.1Cut the world-tree at its root, clinging.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

13.21Clinging to modes causes any new birth.───→here13.27───→14.5Three modes bind the imperishable.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

13.17The Knowable lives as the inner light.───→here13.27───→15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.───→here13.27───→15.7Self drags the senses like wind drags scent.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here13.27───→

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here13.27───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

9.9Like one detached, not actually───→here13.27───→13.30Seer of non-action by Hari's light

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

13.12Hands and feet on every side, beyond all.───→here13.27───→15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.───→here13.27───→15.8The Lord carries the soul from body to body.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.───→here13.27───→13.30The seer of non-action sees by Hari's light.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.───→here13.27───→18.66I shall release you from every wrong.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

13.2I lift my devotees, so I now teach truth.───→here13.27───→14.1Now, the highest of all knowings.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

13.3The soul is part of the supreme Person.───→here13.27───→15.7The soul is My eternal part — its ānanda hidden. .

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

13.24The threefold-knower catalogue goes to silence.───→here13.27───→17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentarybetween

13.2The Lord himself writes the third ṣaṭka. .───→here13.27───→15.15The bhāṣya-author is named by the Lord himself.

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here13.27───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerexit

11.34Already slain — the question is finally retired.───→here13.27───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerexit

11.49Cosmic returns to gracious; ananya means non-dual.───→here13.27───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departureexit

11.46Cosmic and gracious one self-luminous.───→here13.27───→

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here13.27───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here13.27───→

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here13.27───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

13.2One Self lights every body as one sun lights all.───→here13.27───→18.66Beginningless habit ends only with self-knowledge.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

5.29Knowing Me, all wandering ceases at once.───→here13.27───→13.34One Self, untouched, in every body.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

13.2'Cāpi' marks two — not one identity.───→here13.27───→15.15Memory and forgetting both come from Him.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

13.3Knower and field: the boundary is sharp.───→here13.27───→18.66Counterfeit reasonings named, then rejected.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

13.1The kṣetra-question resolves 12.20's hint.───→here13.27───→18.1Tyāga-question resolves ch. 16-17's typology.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not just utterance.───→here13.27───→15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

13.5Brahma-sūtra is text, not paraphrase.───→here13.27───→15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

13.13Only the formless can be the ultimately taught.───→here13.27───→15.1Krishna is the ground, not a partner-god.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

13.13Not a power-of-the-Lord; the Lord himself, formless.───→here13.27───→14.27I am the foundation of formless Brahman itself.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingexit

11.55Acting for Me, holding Me supreme — that is the road.───→here13.27───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here13.27───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here13.27───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

13.9Indifference to objects───→here13.27───→15.5Free of pride and delusion

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

13.20Prakriti causes, puruṣa enjoys───→here13.27───→18.16Wrong-seer fails the act

Śabda · lemmas (10 unique · 12 occurrences)

पश्यति dṛś ×2 — to see (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb · also at 2.29, 5.5, 6.30, 6.32, 13.29, 13.30 +2
सर्वेषु sarva — all, entire · locative neuter plural noun
भूतेषु bhūta — being, creature; element; past, gone · locative neuter plural noun

show all 10

विनश्यत्सु·विनश्यन्तम् vi-√naś ×2 — to perish (vi- + √naś 'be lost') · locative neuter plural present participle verb / accusative masculine singular present participle verb
समम् sama — equal, same, even-minded · accusative masculine singular noun
तिष्ठन्तम् √sthā — to stand, remain (verbal root) · accusative masculine singular present participle verb
परमेश्वरम् parameśvara — Supreme Lord (parama + īśvara) · accusative masculine singular noun
अ a — negation prefix (un-, non-, not)
यः yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine singular noun
स tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the same Parameshvara abides equally in all beings, what changes when I treat another person with contempt — is it only a social wrong, or am I also failing to see correctly?
02The verse says the Lord abides in perishable beings without himself perishing — does grief at someone's death contradict this vision, or can grief and clear-seeing coexist?

show all 7

03Three schools (Advaita, Vishishtadvaita, Dvaita) agree that 'samam pashyati' is the mark of right perception but disagree sharply on what is equal — does the disagreement matter for practice, or does the practice converge regardless?
04If this equal-seeing is the criterion of true vision, is it achievable through ethical training alone, or does it require the prior metaphysical work of ksetra-ksetrajnya viveka that chapters 13.1-26 have built?
05The verse is in the third person: 'he who sees... he sees.' Why does the Gita describe the seer rather than command 'see thus'? What does that grammatical choice imply about how this vision is obtained?
06Sridhara and Madhusudana both note the connection between this seeing and 'na sa bhuyo abhijayate' (no rebirth) — does this mean the vision is a once-and-done event, or can it be lost and must be re-stabilised?
07In daily life, equal-seeing could mean indifference (same treatment for all regardless of context) or equanimity (same inner stance regardless of outcome) — which meaning does each school actually endorse, and which is more workable?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you catch yourself dividing people into those who 'deserve' your attention and those who do not, pause and ask: what is it in each person that I am actually encountering? Advaita practice here is recognising that the awareness meeting you across every relationship is the same undivided Consciousness wearing different costumes — the costume will perish, the Consciousness will not. One practical exercise: before a difficult conversation, inwardly note 'the same ksetrajnya is here' — not as a platitude but as the outcome of genuine ksetra-viveka.

Dvaita

Madhva's frame makes equal-seeing a corrective to both under-valuation and over-identification. You must not write off any being as beneath Hari's sovereignty (equal abiding), but you must also not confuse the beings with Hari himself (eternal distinction). Practically: hold two things simultaneously — deep respect for every person as one over whom Hari holds sovereign care, and clear-eyed recognition that no person, however beloved, is God. This is the antidote to both contempt and projection.

show all 4

Bhakti

Sridhara's balanced reading asks you to hold discrimination and devotion together. The practical work is twofold: first, clearly distinguish what in every person is bound and perishable (the body, the conditioned personality) from what is imperishable (the presence of Ishvara as their ground); second, let that discrimination deepen your affection rather than cool it. True bhakti, on this reading, is love for the imperishable Lord seen in and through the perishable person — not in spite of their limitations but with clear eyes about what those limitations are.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's synthesis means that moments of genuine love for Krishna — devotional absorption, kirtan, prayer, a flash of gratitude — are also moments of correct metaphysical seeing, not departures from it. If the non-dual samam-pashyati sounds cold and abstract, let it be approached through bhakti: the equal-presence of the Lord becomes viscerally obvious in states of deep devotional surrender, not only in dry analysis. Conversely, intellectual clarity about the ksetra-ksetrajnya distinction can deepen bhakti by clearing the distortions that make people objects of possession or fear rather than loci of the beloved Lord.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 13, Verse 27: Krishna to Arjuna — Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga-Yoga