BG 6.29 — Dhyāna-Yoga — Sūtrakṛt-Gītā

Bhagavad Gītā 6.29Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Tāta · anuṣṭubh

सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।

ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः ॥

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṃ sarva-bhūtāni cātmani

īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ

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

meaning

The yogi whose mind is absorbed in practice sees the self dwelling in all beings and all beings dwelling in the self, and so sees the same reality everywhere.

ekras · bhāṣya

The verse names the equanimous vision of the yogi. Two reciprocal seeings; one inner condition.

Shankara reads the verse as direct cognition, not metaphor. The yogi sees his own atman dwelling in all beings from Brahma down to a blade of grass, and sees all those beings as having attained oneness within that single atman. This is sama-darshana — a seeing in which the apparent hierarchies do not register as obstructions to the underlying unity. The vision is non-dual, but it does not erase the body it is being held within; it sees through the multiplicity to the single ground.

Ramanuja reads sarvatra sama-darshana with his characteristic care. The yogi sees all selves — his own and those of every other being — as equal in essential form: jnana-eka-akarata, the character of being pure knowing — once the adventitious difference-producing prakriti is set aside. Each atman is a vishvshana of Bhagavan, so seeing one is seeing all in that respect.

Madhva reads the verse with a critical theological pivot: the object of the meditative vision is not the individual jiva but Parameshvara himself. One sees Hari dwelling within all beings and simultaneously sees all beings dwelling within Hari. The atman in the verse denotes Parameshvara, as confirmed by the Bhagavata: apashyat sarva-bhutani bhagavati api cha atmani.

Vallabha reads two grades of guhya samadhi layered into 6.29-30. The first concerns akshara-Brahman and yields the karya-karana-vastu-aikatva, the unity of cause and effect. The second, in 6.30, concerns Bhagavan Vasudeva and yields immediate non-dual presence.

Madhusudana names the verse as establishing the tvam-pada-lakshya — the referent of 'thou' in the tat tvam asi mahavakya.

Context

where

Chapter 6 · Dhyāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Tāta

preceded by — BG 6.28

The yogī who keeps disciplining the self this way, purified of all impurity, easily reaches the touch of Brahman and tastes a bliss without limit.

What's going on

The yogi whose mind is absorbed in practice sees the self dwelling in all beings and all beings dwelling in the self, and so sees the same reality everywhere.

Sūtras through this verse (63)

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

6.1True renouncing acts; drops the inner hook.───→here6.29───→7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

2.39Practice seam begins.───→here6.29───→6.46The yogi outranks every other path.

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closebetween

6.9Souls differ by nature not by accident alone.───→here6.29───→13.23Soul and Lord coexist in the body, not as one.

show all 63

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here6.29───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one under two views.───→here6.29───→7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

6.1Renouncing too lives by purity of mind.───→here6.29───→16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here6.29───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherbetween

6.1Calling a karma-yogi 'renouncer' is only a courtesy.───→here6.29───→18.1At the very end, the line still holds.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.───→here6.29───→6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesapproach

───→here6.29───→7.1The chapter elaborates the prior bhajana-line.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherapproach

───→here6.29───→7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

3.8Even keeping the body alive requires action.───→here6.29───→6.40A fallen seeker still keeps the human birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here6.29───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.8Clay, stone, and gold are all level to him.───→here6.29───→6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

5.4Insight and practice are not two paths.───→here6.29───→6.46The lover outranks every other yogi.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursbetween

6.3Body, senses, and mind: none of them yours.───→here6.29───→13.20Nature causes the act; you only experience.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here6.29───→

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartapproach

───→here6.29───→6.30See Me everywhere, I am never lost.

RāmānujaclassicalC

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

6.1The renouncer and yogi are the same person.───→here6.29───→7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here6.29───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here6.29───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

6.6Maitrāyaṇī defines the stilled mind.───→here6.29───→7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one person, two names.───→here6.29───→18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causebetween

6.7The stilled mind sees the seated supreme self.───→here6.29───→6.46The five-rung ladder ends in love, not knowledge.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

2.72Many lives of bhakti precede the final crossing.───→here6.29───→6.30Devotion brings what the seeker cannot earn.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

6.20'Self' here is not soul but the Lord within.───→here6.29───→6.32'Self' as mind, not soul, when symmetry is needed.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

6.1Real renouncing keeps the act alive.───→here6.29───→18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

6.1Prelude binds yoga to puṣṭi-bhakti.───→here6.29───→7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

6.1The two paths are one through fruit-renouncing act.───→here6.29───→6.46The lover outranks the wise and the disciplined.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.───→here6.29───→6.46The yogi closing the ṣaṭka is a mind-stiller.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)approach

───→here6.29───→7.4Two natures of the Lord: matter and selves.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionapproach

───→here6.29───→7.17I am dearest to him.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśaapproach

───→here6.29───→7.4Lower nature: matter.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata simileapproach

───→here6.29───→7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markapproach

───→here6.29───→7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentaryapproach

───→here6.29───→6.47Six chapters of aphorism close at this verse.

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

'Sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam sarva-bhutani cha'tmani, ikshate yoga-yuktatma sarvatstation · station 5/6

───→here6.29───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here6.29───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningbetween

6.5'Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet.' Lift yourself by yourself, do not l───→here6.29───→16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

6.7'Jitatmanah prashantasya paramatma samahitah.' For the self-conquered, in-peace,───→here6.29───→6.35'Asamshayam maha-baho mano durnigraham chalam, abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

5.5'Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate.' The place reached by sa───→here6.29───→6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.───→here6.29───→6.46Inner-self hexad closes; pivot prepared.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

5.1Two saṃnyāsas: fruit and means.───→here6.29───→6.46Yogin vs. jñānin: not synonyms.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

2.39Wisdom section wound up here.───→here6.29───→6.46Dhyāna section sealed: yogin is supreme.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelapproach

───→here6.29───→7.1Upāsya and tat-pada in apposition. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousapproach

───→here6.29───→7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here6.29───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here6.29───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

3.1Arjuna's question resolves 2.49's hint.───→here6.29───→6.47Top-yogin clause — the chapter-7 hinge.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.1The renouncer and yogi are one figure.───→here6.29───→6.46The yogi outranks tapasvi, jñāni, karmin.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

6.1Pure mind is not yet release: now meditate.───→here6.29───→8.1Now, the questions of Brahman and self.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personapproach

───→here6.29───→7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsapproach

───→here6.29───→7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyaapproach

───→here6.29───→7.21Deity-worship: His self-arrangement of grace.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homeapproach

───→here6.29───→6.47Be a devotee: that is the meaning.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessapproach

───→here6.29───→7.14Undivided love crosses the great mist.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here6.29───→8.5Whoever remembers Me at the last reaches Me.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here6.29───→

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourstation · v2 · station 10/11

───→here6.29───→

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

6.4Renounced in resolve───→here6.29───→6.35Practice and dispassion

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathapproach · v2

───→here6.29───→7.16Four kinds of bhakta

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

6.1Householder is not figurative saṁnyāsin.───→here6.29───→7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

6.1Karma-yoga is outer; samādhi-yoga inner.───→here6.29───→7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 15 occurrences)

सर्वत्र sarvatra — everywhere · also at 2.57, 6.30, 6.32, 9.6, 12.3, 12.4 +3
ईक्षते √īkṣ — to see, behold (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
आत्मानम्·आत्मनि·आत्मा ātman ×3 — the Self, soul; one's own self · accusative masculine singular noun / locative masculine singular noun / nominative masculine singular noun · also at 5.17, 6.6, 6.10, 8.15, 9.34, 10.20 +2
भूत·भूतानि bhūta ×2 — being, creature; element; past, gone · compound / accusative neuter plural noun

show all 11

सर्व sarva ×2 — all, entire · compound
स्थम् stha — standing, situated (suffix) · accusative masculine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
योग yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · compound
युक्त √yuj — to yoke, join, engage in (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member) · also at 1.14, 2.28, 2.39, 2.50, 2.51, 2.61 +37
सम sama — equal, same, even-minded · compound
दर्शनः darśana — seeing, vision; one of the six philosophical schools · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Śaṅkara's vision of 'sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānam' dissolves all hierarchy into nirviśeṣa Brahman, how does that vision coexist with the continued perception of the yogi's own body and actions in the world — does the simultaneous-seeing require total withdrawal from vyavahāra (conventional usage)?
02Madhva reads 'ātman' as Paramēśvara rather than the individual jīva — what hermeneutic principle (grammar, context, cross-text) allows him to make that move, and can Śaṅkara's reading survive that challenge?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja insists that the sameness-vision belongs to essential nature while real difference persists in prakṛti: does this make sama-darśana (equal-seeing) permanently incomplete, since prakṛti is never fully transcended for the bound jīva?
04Vallabha's two-grade reading (akṣara-Brahman vision → Vāsudeva-vision) implies the impersonal non-dual stage is a sub-peak en route to the personal. How does he answer the Advaitin who says the second 'grade' is itself just a higher superimposition?
05Madhusūdana's synthesis posits that two independent upāyas (nirodha and vicāra) reach the same realization: does this imply the realization itself is neutral between yoga and Vedānta, or does the path taken color the content of what is seen?
06All six schools agree the yogi 'sees equally' (sama-darśana) — yet they sharply disagree on the ontological status of the differences that are seen through: are those differences real (Dvaita), mode-real (Viśiṣṭādvaita), phenomenally real but ultimately unreal (Advaita), or transcended in Kṛṣṇa's grace (Śuddhādvaita)?
07The verse says the yogi 'sees' (īkṣate) rather than 'knows' or 'experiences' — does the visual metaphor commit the schools to a particular epistemology (pratyakṣa-based, not anumāna-based), and if so, what kind of perception is this: yogaja-pratyakṣa, ātma-pratyakṣa, or something else?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

In a conflict with a colleague, pause before reacting and attempt the Śaṅkara move: recognize that the irritation arises because you take your own delimiting upādhi (role, status, opinion) as real. The practice is not to feel warm toward the colleague but to see both yourself and the colleague as equally appearance-only surfaces of the one nirviśeṣa ground. The friction itself then loses its grip — not through suppression but through recognition of the substrate.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When meeting someone whose material circumstances are very different from yours, Rāmānuja's frame directs you to look past the prakṛti-layer (body, caste, wealth) and acknowledge the jñāna-svarūpa — the essential knowing-nature — that is identical in kind across all ātmans. This is not vague compassion but a structured perceptual discipline: temporarily 'bracket' the prakṛti differences and let the common essential form become visible. Then re-engage with the specific person from that ground.

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Dvaita

Before any significant action — a business decision, a harsh word, a moment of pride — the Madhva application is to ask: 'Where is Hari in this situation?' The verse's vision of Paramēśvara equally present in both parties (in you who acts and in the one affected) functions as an ethical regulator. It does not collapse difference; it places the Lord as witness and standard within both poles of every transaction.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's application hinges on ānanda (bliss) as the signal: when a moment of genuine beauty, connection, or creativity arises and you feel an expansive sense that boundaries have softened, recognize that as the akṣara-Brahman register of the verse opening. Do not stop there — offer the experience back to Kṛṣṇa (as prasāda offered in return), and watch whether Kṛṣṇa's personal presence becomes subtly visible within that expansion. The practice is to complete the two-grade movement every time, not to stabilize at the impersonal plateau.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's application is the classic bhakti audit: when you catch yourself treating another person as fundamentally other (dismissing them, comparing yourself favorably, seeing their suffering as separate from yours), recognize that as avidyā-kṛta-pariccheda — the delimiting illusion doing its work. The practice is brief but sincere: see the other's body-mind complex as an upādhi just as arbitrary as your own, and let the common ātman beneath it register for a moment. This is not a feeling to manufacture; it is a recognition to allow.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's synthesis suggests a two-track daily practice: a period of nirodha (sitting in stillness, watching the witness that persists through the arising and passing of thoughts — the sākṣin) alternated with periods of vicāra (sharp inquiry — 'is this reaction arising from the witness or from a kalpita, a superimposed construct?'). The verse is realized not at the end of a formal sitting but in the instant when you catch yourself treating a mental image of a person as the person themselves — and recognize that superimposition for what it is.

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 6, Verse 29: Krishna to Arjuna — Dhyāna-Yoga