Sanskrit
समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् । न हिनस्त्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥
samaṃ paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam īśvaram na hinasty ātmanātmānaṃ tato yāti parāṃ gatim
Translation
Seeing indeed everywhere the same Lord equally dwelling, he doth not destroy the Self, and thus treads the highest Path.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The refrain continues, adding a consequence to the seeing described in verse 28: whoever perceives the same Lord equally established everywhere “does not injure the self by the self” — reframing ahimsa, listed back in verse 8 as one trait of jnana, as a metaphysical rather than merely behavioral matter. Harming another, on this view, is a way of degrading one’s own seeing of sameness, which is why it’s described here as self- injury rather than injury to the other party.
Concepts