13.15
Chapter 13, Verse 15
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम्। असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च৷৷
sarvēndriyaguṇābhāsaṅ sarvēndriyavivarjitam. asaktaṅ sarvabhṛccaiva nirguṇaṅ guṇabhōktṛ ca৷৷
Translation
Beyond the senses, It yet shines through every sense perception. Bound to nothing, It yet sustains everything. Unaffected by the Qualities, It still enjoys them all.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासम् shining by the functions of all senses, सर्वेन्द्रयविवर्जितम् (yet) without the senses, असक्तम् unattached, सर्वभृत् (yet) supporting all, च and, एव even, निर्गुणम् devoid of alities, गुणभोक्तृ (yet) experiencer of the alities, च and. Commentary: Brahman sees without eyes, hears without ears, smells without nose, eats without mouth, feels without skin, grasps without hands, walks without feet. He is the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unthought thinker. Other than Him there is no seer, no hearer, no thinker. He is the Self, the Inner Ruler, the Immortal. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III.7.23) He is free from the,alities of Nature and yet He is the enjoyer of the alities.All the senses The five organs of knowledge and the five organs of action, the inner senses, mind and intellect come under the term all the senses. The organs of action and those of knowledge perform their functions in conjunction with the mind and the intellect. They cannot function independently. Therefore, the mind and the intellect are included in the term all the senses.Brahman is transcendental and unmanifest, but It manifests Itself through the limiting adjuncts of the extrnal and the internal senses. As It is destitute of the senses It is unattached and yet It supports all. It is the support or substratum of everything. It is destitute of the alities of Nature and yet It is the enjoyer of those alities. Brahman is really mysterious.This verse is taken from the Svetasvataropanishad 3.17.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.