Shloka
समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम् |
विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति ||१३-२८||Transliteration
samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaram .
vinaśyatsvavinaśyantaṃ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati ||13-28||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
13.28. Whosoever perceives the Supreme Lord as abiding and as non-perishing in all beings alike, while they perish - he perceives properly.
Shri Purohit Swami
13.28 He who can see the Supreme Lord in all beings, the Imperishable amidst the perishable, he it is who really sees.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
13.28 Sri Abhinavagupta did not comment upon this sloka.
Sri Ramanuja
13.28 He who sees the Atman as It really is - he is the one who sees the Atman as a distinct entity in all embodied beings that are composed of Prakrti and Purusa, even in bodies of diverse nature of gods, men etc. The true seer is one who sees the Atman as the supreme ruler in all these bodies as the imperishable self, though the bodies are subject to destruction. Conversely the purport is that he who sees the Atman, only as characterised by the uneal forms of the bodies as men, gods etc., and as possessed of birth, death etc. - such a person is perpetually caught up in transmigratory existence.
Sri Shankaracharya
13.28 Sah, he; pasyati, sees; yah, who; pasyati, sees;-whom?-parameswaram, the supreme Lord-the Lord who is supreme as compared with the body, organs, mind, intellect, the Unmanifest and the individual soul; as tisthantam, existing, having His presence; samam, eally, without distinction;-where?-sarvesu, in all; bhutesu, beings, all living things from Brahma to the non-moving;-he who sees Him existing eally in all living things. The Lord specifies them by the word vinasyatsu, among the perishable; and He also specifies Him, the supreme Lord, by the word avinasyantam, the Imperishable. This is meant for showing the absolute difference between the living things and God. How? For, all the modifications [See note 3 on p.38.-Tr.] of an existing thing have as their root that modification of an existing thing described as birth. All other modifications of existing things that follow birth end with destruction. After destruction there is no modification of an existing thing, because the object itself becomes nonexistent. Indeed, alities can exist so long as the thing alified exists. Therefore, by the reiteration of the absence of the last modification of an existing thing, all its preceding modifications become negated along with their effects. Hence it is established that the supreme Lord is very greatly different from all beings, and is also Unconditioned [Free from all modifications that things are subject to.] and One. He sees who thus sees the supreme Lord as described. Objection: Is it not that all poeple see? What is the need of specification? Reply: True, they see; but they see contrarily! Hence the Lord specifies, ‘He alone sees’. As in comparison with one who, suffering from the (eye) disease called Timira, sees many moons, the person who sees one moon is distingusihed by saying, ‘He alone sees,’ similarly, here as well, the man who sees the one undivided Self as described above is distinguished from those who contrarily see many and differentiated selves, by saying ‘He alone sees’. Others, though seeing, do not see because they see contrarily like the person who sees many moons. This is the meaning. The obove-described true knowledge has to be praised by stating its result. Hence the verse begins:
Swami Adidevananda
13.28 Who sees the supreme ruler dwelling alike in all bodies and nevr perishing when they perish, he sees indeed.
Swami Gambirananda
13.28 He sees who sees the supreme Lord as existing eally in all beings, and as the Imperishable among the perishable.
Swami Sivananda
13.28 He sees, who sees the Supreme Lord, existing eally in all beings, the unperishing within the perishing.
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
13.28 समम् eally? सर्वेषु (in) all? भूतेषु in beings? तिष्ठन्तम् existing? परमेश्वरम् the Supreme Lord? विनश्यस्तु among the perishing? अविनश्यन्तम् the unperishing? यः who? पश्यति sees? सः he? पश्यति sees.Commentary He who beholds the Supreme Lord through the inner eye of wisdom? Him Who is seated in all beings from the Creator down to the unmoving objects and Who is not destroyed even when all beings are destroyed? he is said to have realised the Self.In different kinds of fire? the heat is the same. Gold is the same in different forms of ornaments. The light from many lamps is the same. So also in all living being?s the soul is the same. The soul or the Self is uniform everywhere. The Self is the same in ants? elephants? kings? beggars? saints and rogues.The Self is indestructible all living beings are perishable. It is the Supreme Lord when compared to the body? senses? mind? intellect? the Unmanifested Nature and the individual soul.Birth is the root cause of the BhavaVikaras or the modifications? viz.? change? growth? decay and death. The other changes of state manifest themselves after the birth of the body.The Supreme Lord is one and changeless as He is birthless? decayless and deathless. He is the one common consciousness in all beings. He sees rightly who sees the Supreme Lord as now described. He is a Jivanmukta. He has knowledge of the knower of the field or the immortal Self. He is the real seer or a liberated sage.The sage alone sees properly on account of knowledge. The whole world sees erroneously on account of ignorance. He who is suffering from defective vision beholds many moons. He sees erroneously. But he who sees one moon only sees in the proper manner? correctly. Even so he who beholds the one immortal indivisible Self in all beings really sees the Truth. He alone sees. He who sees many distinct selves erroneously does not really see though he sees. He is like the man who beholds many moons. (Cf.VIII.20