Gita 13.15
Kshetra Kshetragna Vibhaga Yoga
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम् | असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च ||१५||
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam | asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛc caiva nirguṇaṁ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca ||15||
In essence: A series of paradoxes: Brahman illuminates all sense functions yet has no senses; unattached yet sustaining all; without qualities yet experiencing all qualities.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Guru ji, these paradoxes make my head spin. How can something be without qualities yet experience qualities?"
Guru: "Consider: you watch a movie with sounds, colors, emotions. Are YOU noisy, colorful, emotional while watching? You experience these qualities without possessing them. Similarly, Brahman witnesses the play of gunas without being constituted by them."
Sadhak: "But I'm not truly unaffected. Movies DO affect me emotionally."
Guru: "Because you identify with characters. If you watched knowing it's just light on screen, you'd enjoy without being thrown. Brahman is the ultimate witness who never forgets it's watching. The affect is apparent, not real."
Sadhak: "How does Brahman sustain everything while being unattached?"
Guru: "Think of the sun. It sustains all life on earth—plants grow, waters cycle, lives flourish—all because of the sun. Yet the sun doesn't hold meetings about whether to shine. It's naturally sustaining without being invested in outcomes. Brahman is like this, infinitely more so."
Sadhak: "These paradoxes feel designed to break the mind."
Guru: "Exactly! The conceptual mind cannot grasp Brahman because Brahman is not a concept. Paradoxes exhaust the mind's grasping. When grasping stops, what remains? That stillness, that open awareness—there, Brahman is recognized, not as an object but as what you are."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Contemplate: 'I am the light by which these senses function, yet I am not the senses.' Start the day recognizing yourself as the awareness behind perception.
Practice non-attachment while engaging: 'I support this activity without being bound by its outcome.' This is 'sarva-bhrit' and 'asakta' combined in action.
Notice the qualities of experience—pleasure, pain, dullness—and recognize: 'These gunas play in me; I am the witness, not the play.' Rest as that witnessing presence.