Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 32
यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते।सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते।।
yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣmyād ākāśaṁ nopalipyate
sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate
also searched as "yatha sarva-gatam saukshmyad akasham nopalipyate"
Translation
As the all-pervading ether is not tainted due to its subtlety, even so, the self abiding in the body is not tainted everywhere.
Vāṇi's rendering
As space fills everything yet nothing marks it, the self fills the body and nothing marks it.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यथाyathā | just as |
| सर्वगतम्sarva-gataṁ | gone everywhere, all-pervading |
| सौक्ष्म्यात्saukṣmyāt | because of its fineness, being too subtle to be caught (sandhi: saukṣmyād before ā) |
| आकाशम्ākāśaṁ | space, open sky |
| नna | not (joined as no- with the next word) |
| उपलिप्यतेupalipyate | is smeared, stained, marked |
| सर्वत्रsarvatra | everywhere, in every part |
| अवस्थितःavasthitaḥ | seated, abiding (sandhi: avasthito before d) |
| देहेdehe | in the body |
| तथाtathā | so, in the same way |
| आत्माātmā | the self |
| नna | not (joined as no-) |
| उपलिप्यतेupalipyate | is stained, is marked |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 32 mean?
It means the self cannot be stained by what the body undergoes. Krishna compares it to ākāśa — space so subtle that nothing it holds can leave a mark on it. The self abides everywhere in the body, in every organ and every ache, and remains untouched by all of it.
What does yatha sarva-gatam saukshmyad akasham nopalipyate teach?
It teaches by comparison rather than command. Space is everywhere and belongs to nothing; smoke and fire pass through it and it stays exactly as it was. Krishna says the self dwells in the body in that manner — fully present, completely unmarked. Pervasion without entanglement is the whole lesson.
Does this verse mean my pain is not real?
No. Krishna never tells Arjuna the pain is imaginary. He tells him where it belongs. The wound is real and it happens in the field — the body, the nerves, the mind. What this verse denies is that it reaches the knower. Feel it fully; stop believing it has damaged you.
Why does Krishna use space as the example here?
Because space is the only thing you meet daily that is everywhere and holds no trace. Water stains, cloth absorbs, metal rusts. Ākāśa accepts every object and keeps none of them. Its subtlety, saukṣmya, is precisely why nothing sticks. The self is subtler still, so nothing sticks there either.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Try to mark the air in this room. Push it, cut it, burn it — the smoke clears and the space is exactly what it was. Krishna hands Arjuna the one image that cannot be argued with. Space is too fine to hold a mark. It fills every object and belongs to none. The self is in the body that way — present in the fever, the wound, the shame, touched by none of them. This does not make your suffering false. It says where the suffering lands. What happened to you happened in the body. It never reached the one now reading this line.