Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 22
उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः।परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः।।
upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ
also searched as "upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta maheshvarah"
Translation
The self in the body is called the spectator, approver, supporter, experiencer, great lord, and supreme self.
Vāṇi's rendering
In this very body lives the highest person — witness, permitter, bearer, taster, great lord, supreme self.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| उपद्रष्टाupadraṣṭā | the one who looks on, the witness standing near but apart |
| अनुमन्ताanumantā | the one who permits, who consents to what happens (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| चca | and |
| भर्ताbhartā | the bearer, the one who holds it all up |
| भोक्ताbhoktā | the taster, the one for whom experience happens |
| महेश्वरःmaheśvaraḥ | great lord |
| परमात्माparamātmā | the supreme self |
| इतिiti | thus, so called (blended with the previous word by sandhi) |
| चca | and |
| अपिapi | also, even (sandhi with the preceding ca) |
| उक्तःuktaḥ | is spoken of, is named |
| देहेdehe | in the body |
| अस्मिन्asmin | in this one (the initial a is swallowed by sandhi) |
| पुरुषःpuruṣaḥ | the person, the one who dwells |
| परःparaḥ | highest, beyond |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 22 mean?
It names the one who dwells in the body: witness, permitter, bearer, taster, great lord, supreme self. Six words for a single presence. Krishna is saying that the knower of the field is not lodged in some far heaven — he is seated in this body, seeing everything it does and consenting to it.
What does upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta maheshvarah mean?
Upadraṣṭā is the one who looks on, close by but untouched. Anumantā is the one who permits. Bhartā holds everything up; bhoktā receives the taste of it; maheśvaraḥ is the great lord. Five angles on one dweller, so that no single word can shrink him.
If the supreme self is the witness, why is it also called the taster?
Because Krishna refuses to make him distant. A witness who felt nothing would be a stranger in your body. Bhoktā means the experience is received, not ignored. He watches without being tangled, and still nothing in your day passes unnoticed or unaccompanied.
How do I find this supreme person in my own body?
Not by searching for a new object. Every ache, thought and fear you can point at is the field. Turn attention to the one pointing. That quiet noticing, which never becomes what it notices, is where Krishna says he is already sitting.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Six names, and every one of them is standing inside your skin. Krishna does not send you elsewhere to find the highest person. He places him here — in this body, the one that aches and eats and tires. Witness: he sees without interfering. Permitter: nothing you do happens without his consent. Bearer, taster, great lord, supreme self. Arjuna wanted to know who watches the field. The answer is that the watcher is not a stranger and not far. When you next catch yourself observing your own anger, notice that the observing was never yours alone.