Bhagavad Gita 13.32 Meaning: Yatha sarvagatam

Bhagavad Gita 13.32

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥

Yatha sarvagatam saukshmyadakasham nopalipyateSarvatravasthito dehe tathatma nopalipyate

yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyādākāśaṃ nopalipyate |sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathā’’tmā nopalipyate ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna gives an image. Space (ākāśa) is everywhere, yet because it is so subtle nothing stains it. In the same way, he says, the self present everywhere in the body is not stained.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण एक उदाहरण देते हैं। आकाश सब जगह है, फिर भी सूक्ष्म होने के कारण उसे कुछ लिप्त नहीं करता। वे कहते हैं कि इसी तरह शरीर में सब जगह स्थित आत्मा लिप्त नहीं होती।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

यथा yathā · as (indeclinable) Dictionary: yathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 841, col. 2 “in which manner or way, according as, as, like”
सर्वगतम् sarvagatam · present everywhere (compound (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: sarva-gata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1185, col. 1
सौक्ष्म्यात् saukṣmyāt · because of its subtlety (noun (neuter), ablative singular) Dictionary: saukṣmya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1252, col. 1 “minuteness, fineness, subtlety”
आकाशम् ākāśam · space (ākāśa) (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: ā-kāśa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 127, col. 1 “the ether, sky or atmosphere”
न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “ind. not, no, nor, neither”
उपलिप्यते upalipyate · is stained (present passive, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: upa-lip, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 206, col. 1 “to defile, besmear”
सर्वत्र sarvatra · everywhere (indeclinable) Dictionary: sarvatra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1189, col. 2 “everywhere, in every case, always, at all times”
अवस्थितः avasthitaḥ · present (past participle (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: ava-sthita, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 106, col. 1 “placed, having its place or abode”
देहे dehe · in the body (noun (masculine), locative singular) Dictionary: deha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 496, col. 3 “the body”
तथा tathā · so (indeclinable) Dictionary: tathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 3 “in that manner, so, thus”
आत्मा ātmā · the self (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self”
न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “ind. not, no, nor, neither”
उपलिप्यते upalipyate · is stained (present passive, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: upa-lip, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 206, col. 1 “to defile, besmear”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ॥
सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥ The print closes the first half-line with a double danda (नोपलिप्यते ॥) where every other first half-line in the edition ends with a single danda; shown with ।, as both proofreading references have it. Same kind of flaw as the single danda that closes 1.29.
Spelling A digital text reads Same words. The 1922 edition marks the merged vowel with avagraha (तथाऽऽत्मा); the e-text writes तथात्मा, as another digital text does.

Bhagavad Gita 13.32: meaning and translation

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