Chapter 13, Verse 15
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम् | असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च ||१३-१५||
sarvendriyaguṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriyavivarjitam . asaktaṃ sarvabhṛccaiva nirguṇaṃ guṇabhoktṛ ca ||13-15||
Meaning
13.15 Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without the senses; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of alities, yet their experiencer.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna unfolds Brahman through a series of luminous paradoxes that stretch ordinary logic. It illumines the working of every sense, yet possesses no senses of its own; it remains utterly unattached, yet upholds and sustains all things; it is beyond the three gunas (nirguna), yet it experiences them. These apparent contradictions are not confusion but a deliberate teaching method, pointing to a reality that transcends our either/or categories.
The heart of the verse is that the Absolute relates to the world the way light relates to the colours it reveals: light makes every hue visible without itself being coloured. So too the supreme Self enables all perception and action while remaining pristine, untouched, and free. To grasp this is to understand how we can be intimately present to life — fully engaged, sustaining our responsibilities — while inwardly unstained by it. The Self participates in everything yet is bound by nothing.
💡 Key Takeaway
Like light that reveals every colour yet takes on none, the Self enables all experience while remaining untouched.
Related Verses
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु | नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ||१३-१०||
asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu . nityaṃ ca samacittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu ||13-10||
13.10 Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home and the rest, and constant even-mindedness on the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable.
ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते | अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते ||१३-१३||
jñeyaṃ yattatpravakṣyāmi yajjñātvāmṛtamaśnute . anādi matparaṃ brahma na sattannāsaducyate ||13-13||
13.13 I will declare that which has to be known, knowing which one attains to immortality, the beginningless supreme Brahman, called neither being nor non-being.
सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम् | सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ||१३-१४||
sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tatsarvato.akṣiśiromukham . sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati ||13-14||
13.14 With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds enveloping all.