Bhagavad Gita 6.31
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 31 of 47
सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः | सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ||३१||
sarvabhūtasthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ | sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī mayi vartate || 31 ||
Established in unity, worshipping Me as dwelling in all beings — whatever the mode of life, that yogi abides in Me.
Word by word (3)
- sarva-bhūta-sthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajati ekatavm āsthitaḥ
- — who worships Me as dwelling in all beings, established in unity · sarva-bhūta-sthitam = dwelling/stationed in all beings. māṃ bhajati = worships Me (√bhaj = to serve, to worship, to share — the root of bhakti and bhajan). ekatvam āsthitaḥ = established in oneness/unity (eka = one, tva = -ness, āsthita = established in). This is the devotional expression of V29's sama-darśana and V30's mutual-presence: the yogi, established in the recognition that all beings are one (ekatva), worships Krishna specifically IN all beings (not despite them, not around them, but IN them). The action of worship (bhajati) is directed at the Krishna who is sarva-bhūta-sthita (dwelling in all beings).
- sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī mayi vartate
- — whatever the mode of living, whatever activities — that yogi abides in Me · sarvathā = in all ways, whatever the mode. vartamānaḥ = living, moving, acting. api = even. sa yogī = that yogi. mayi vartate = abides in Me, lives in Me (mayi = in Me; vartate = abides, dwells, lives). The radical implication: there is no longer any activity, any 'mode of life,' that is outside the divine presence. The V31 yogi abides in Krishna in all states — eating, sleeping, working, resting. The chapter has progressively built from the prescribed conditions of V10-17 (solitude, regulated life, correct posture) to V31's liberation: the yogi who has completed the practice is free from the prescribed conditions because all conditions are now within the divine life.
- ekatva (key concept)
- — unity, oneness — the single recognition that grounds all perception and action · ekatva = oneness, unity (eka = one + tva = -ness, the quality of being). This is the Gita's term for the recognition underlying V29's sama-darśana and V30's mutual presence. When ekatva is established (āsthita = seated in, grounded in), the yogi doesn't see unity as a philosophical concept or a meditation experience — they are stationed in it as their ground of being. From this ground, bhajati (worship) flows naturally in all directions, toward all beings. V31's ekatva-āsthita is the Gita's term for the stable, integrated non-dual recognition.
The yogi who is grounded in the recognition of oneness (ekatva) and worships Krishna as present in all beings — no matter what they are doing or how they are living — that yogi is always abiding in Krishna. The samādhi that began as a meditation state has become a 24-hour reality.
A modern analogy
A musician who is completely master of their instrument doesn't need to think about scales and finger positions while playing — the technique has become transparent. They abide in the music whatever they play. This verse's yogi is like that: the disciplined practice of firm resolve, releasing desires, and returning the mind has been so thoroughly integrated that the 'technique' (meditation, returning the mind, releasing saṃkalpas) is transparent — they abide in Krishna whatever they are doing.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say 'everything a yogi does is equally dharmic' or 'the yogi can do anything and it's fine.' 'Sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa mayi vartate' means their inner abiding is always in Me — their inner life is grounded — not that their outer actions are beyond ethical consideration.
Take with you
- This verse is the Gita's vision of the fully integrated yogic life: not alternating between 'spiritual practice' and 'ordinary life' but a life in which the recognition of oneness (ekatva) pervades all activity. This is the aspiration that sustains the rigours of the disciplined meditation practice.
- Ekatva (oneness) as a daily orientation: start each day with a brief acknowledgement of the ground of unity — 'I am the same ātman as every being I will encounter today.' Let this recognition, however faint, color the day's interactions.
- This verse's 'sarvathā vartamāno'pi' (whatever the mode of living) is explicitly inclusive: the yogi doesn't need a special vocation, lifestyle, or role to abide in Krishna. The bhikṣu and the householder, the scholar and the farmer — this verse's state is available in all modes of life.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Who, established in unity, worships Me as dwelling in all beings — whatever his mode of living, that yogi abides in Me. [1]
He who being established in unity, worships Me, who am dwelling in all beings, whatever his mode of life, that Yogi abides in Me. [4]
He who, established in unity, worshippeth Me who dwells in all beings — that Yogi, though in all activities, yet abideth in Me. [5]
The Yogi who, fixed in unity, adores me as abiding in all beings, lives in Me however he may be living. [6]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Who sees Me everywhere and all in Me — I am never lost to that one, nor that one to Me.
Who measures others' joy and pain by the standard of their own — seeing the same everywhere — is the supreme yogi.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
From whom all beings arise, by whom all is pervaded — worshiping THAT through one's own duty, one attains perfection.
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
Of all yogis, the one whose inner self is merged in Me, worshipping with śraddhā — that one I hold to be most united.
Verse 31 of 47 · back to Chapter 6