Bhagavad Gita 15.10
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 10 of 20
उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम् । विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुषः ॥
utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam | vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ ||
The deluded see only the body's states — birth, life, experience; the jñāna-eyed see the jīva behind all three.
Word by word (3)
- utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam
- — him who is departing (utkrāmantam = dying/leaving), or staying/residing (sthitam), or experiencing/enjoying (bhuñjānam), conjoined with the guṇas (guṇānvitam) — three states of existence
- vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti
- — the deluded (vimūḍhāḥ) do not see (na anupaśyanti) — they see the body-states but not the jīva within/behind them
- paśyanti jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ
- — those who possess the eye of knowledge (jñāna-cakṣus) see (paśyanti) — the jñāna-cakṣus is the inner vision that perceives ātman behind the bodily theater
The deluded do not perceive the soul — whether it is departing, residing, or experiencing, conjoined with the guṇas. But those who have the eye of knowledge do see it.
A modern analogy
When you watch a movie, the projector-beam is invisible to most viewers — they see only the characters on screen. But a skilled projectionist always sees the light-source behind every image. The jñāna-cakṣus is the ability to see the projector (jīva) behind every moment of life's movie.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Him who departs, stays and enjoys, who is conjoined with gunas, the deluded perceive not; they see, who possess the eye of knowledge. [1]
While transmigrating (from one body to another), or residing (in the same) or experiencing, or when united with the Gunas — the deluded do not see Him; but those who have the eye of wisdom behold Him. [4]
Him who departs, stays, and enjoys, conjoined with the qualities, those whose minds are deluded do not see; they see who have the eye of knowledge. [9]
Him who departs, stays and enjoys, who is conjoined with qualities, the ignorant do not see; they who are possessed of the eyes of wisdom can see. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
I am in every heart — source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting; all Vedas point to Me, their author and knower.
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Veiled by yoga-māyā, I am not manifest to all — this deluded world does not recognize Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable.
Intellect, wisdom, patience, truth, calm, restraint, joy, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness — all arise from Me.
Verse 10 of 20 · back to Chapter 15