All beings arise from one reality.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति |तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा ||१३-३१||
yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvamekasthamanupaśyati . tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma sampadyate tadā ||13-31||
Use this verse for life-integration reflection.
Meaning
When one sees the separate existence of beings rooted in the One and expanding from That alone, one attains Brahman.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Seeing all diversity rooted in the One leads to Brahman-realization.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna again teaches unity behind multiplicity. The many beings are not disconnected fragments; they arise from and rest in one supreme reality.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna describes the culminating realisation. When one perceives that the endless diversity of beings (bhuta-prithag-bhava) actually rests in a single source and spreads forth from that One alone, the seeker 'becomes Brahman' (brahma sampadyate). The apparent manyness of the world is seen as the unfolding of one reality, the way countless branches and leaves all belong to a single tree.
Notice that the verse does not say he 'reaches' or 'reaches toward' Brahman, but that he becomes Brahman. This is the heart of non-dual realisation: when separateness is seen through, the seeker discovers he was never apart from the Absolute. To know oneness is, in that very knowing, to be the oneness.
The journey ends not in arriving somewhere new but in awakening to what one has always been. Diversity is not denied but embraced as the radiant expansion of the single Self, and the knower merges into the very reality he beholds.
In daily life
Look beyond fragmentation toward the one source.
A person overwhelmed by many problems can ask what deeper principle unites them.
Try this today
Find one unifying purpose beneath multiple tasks.
I see the many rooted in the One.Reflect
What scattered parts of my life have one deeper source?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘एकस्थम् अनुपश्यति’ mean in this verse?
The Gita on realization, in other chapters
- Verse 11.13 · SanjayaThe countless forms of the world and their hidden unity are, in truth, seen as one.
- Verse 4.24When you see the divine in the doer, the deed, and the offering alike, every act becomes worship and leads to the infinite.
- Verse 18.20The highest knowledge sees one undivided Reality shining through all the world's countless separate forms.
- Verse 6.29A harmonized mind sees one Self in all beings and all beings in the Self — the vision of true oneness.
Swipe left for 13.32 · The true Self remains untouched.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 13.31
Who says Bhagavad Gita 13.31, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 13.31, in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 13.31 mean?
When one sees the separate existence of beings rooted in the One and expanding from That alone, one attains Brahman. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 13.31 for daily life?
Look beyond fragmentation toward the one source. A person overwhelmed by many problems can ask what deeper principle unites them.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 13.31 mean?
यदा — when; भूतपृथग्भावम् — the separate existence of beings; एकस्थम् अनुपश्यति — perceives as resting in the One; ततः एव च विस्तारम् — and as spreading forth from That alone; ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा — then he becomes Brahman.
Where does verse 13.31 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 31 of 35 in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 13.32.