Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 6, Verse 29
सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि।
ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः।।
ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शनः।।
sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni cātmani
īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ
also searched as "sarvabhutastham atmanam sarvabhutani chatmani"
Translation
He whose mind is fixed in Yoga sees reality everywhere; he sees his Self as abiding in all beings and all beings in his Self.
Vāṇi's rendering
The one made whole by yoga sees the self in every being, and every being in the self.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सर्वभूतस्थम्sarva-bhūta-stham | standing in all beings, present in everything that lives |
| आत्मानम्ātmānam | the self |
| सर्वभूतानिsarva-bhūtāni | all beings |
| चca | and (joined to the next word by sandhi as cātmani) |
| आत्मनिātmani | in the self |
| ईक्षतेīkṣate | sees, beholds |
| योगयुक्तात्माyoga-yukta-ātmā | one whose self is joined and steadied by yoga |
| सर्वत्रsarvatra | everywhere |
| समदर्शनःsama-darśanaḥ | seeing the same, looking with an even eye |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Verse 29 mean?
It names the fruit of practice. The one steadied by yoga no longer sees a crowd of strangers; the same ātman that stands in him stands in every being, and every being rests in that one self. Krishna calls this sama-darśana — an even seeing. Not a belief adopted, but a sight that opens.
What does sarvabhutastham atmanam sarvabhutani chatmani teach?
It teaches a seeing that runs both ways. The self is found inside every creature, and every creature is found inside the self. Neither half alone is enough — the first without the second stays abstract, the second without the first stays sentimental. Krishna gives both in one breath, as one sight.
Is sama-darshana the same as treating everyone equally?
Fair treatment is behaviour; sama-darśana is perception. You can act evenly while still privately sorting people into worthy and unworthy. Krishna is describing the collapse of that sorting at the root. Behaviour then follows without being managed, because there is no longer anyone left to rank.
How do I actually reach this even seeing?
Not by deciding to. The verse says yoga-yukta-ātmā — the seeing belongs to one already made whole by practice. So the work stays where Krishna put it in the preceding verses: the steady seat, the quiet breath, the mind returned again and again. The sight is what ripens, not what you achieve.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has been asking how to sit, how to breathe, where to place the gaze. Here Krishna says what the sitting is for. Not a private calm — a change in what the eyes can do. Sama-darśana is not the polite claim that everyone is equal; it is the discovery that the one looking out of you is the one looking out of them. You do not manufacture this by effort. It arrives when the yoga has done its work, the way sight arrives when a lamp is lit. Test it where it costs: the person you cannot stand today. Something in them is reading this too.