Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 13, Verse 29
Verse 29
The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field
One who sees the Lord established equally everywhere does not harm the Self by the self, and thereby attains the supreme goal.
Context & Meaning
The one who sees God equally everywhere does not harm the Self by the self — a remarkable phrase. When I see only separate selves, I can harm, exploit, or diminish others. But when I see the one Self in all, to harm another is literally to harm myself. The vision of unity naturally produces ahiṃsā — not as a moral rule but as a perceptual consequence. And from this non-violence of vision flows the supreme goal: liberation. The path to freedom is not through accumulation of virtue but through expansion of vision.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainRamanujacharya
VishishtadvaitaNa hiṃsyāt ātmanātmānaṃ — does not harm the self by the self. The lower self (ahaṅkāra-self) harms the higher Self by its actions of separation, violence, and ignorance. The one who has attained equal vision has transcended the lower self and therefore cannot harm the higher Self or any being in whom that higher Self dwells.