Bhagavad Gita 6.29

sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaḿ
sarva-bhūtāni cātmani
īkṣate yoga-yuktātmā
sarvatra sama-darśanaḥ

Translation of Bhagavad Gita 6.29

A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.

Commentary by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

A Krishna conscious yogi is the perfect seer because he sees Krishna, the Supreme, situated in everyone’s heart as Supersoul (Paramatma). Ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tishthati. The Lord in His Paramatma feature is situated within both the heart of the dog and that of a brahmana. The perfect yogi knows that the Lord is eternally transcendental and is not materially affected by His presence in either a dog or a brahmana. That is the supreme neutrality of the Lord. The individual soul is also situated in the individual heart, but he is not present in all hearts. That is the distinction between the individual soul and the Supersoul. One who is not factually in the practice of yoga cannot see so clearly. A Krishna conscious person can see Krishna in the heart of both the believer and the nonbeliever. In the smriti this is confirmed as follows: atatatvac ca matrtvac ca atma hi paramo harih. The Lord, being the source of all beings, is like the mother and the maintainer. As the mother is neutral to all different kinds of children, the supreme father (or mother) is also. Consequently the Supersoul is always in every living being.

Outwardly, also, every living being is situated in the energy of the Lord. As will be explained in the Seventh Chapter, the Lord has, primarily, two energies—the spiritual (or superior) and the material (or inferior). The living entity, although part of the superior energy, is conditioned by the inferior energy; the living entity is always in the Lord’s energy. Every living entity is situated in Him in one way or another.

The yogi sees equally because he sees that all living entities, although in different situations according to the results of fruitive work, in all circumstances remain the servants of God. While in the material energy, the living entity serves the material senses; and while in spiritual energy, he serves the Supreme Lord directly. In either case the living entity is the servant of God. This vision of equality is perfect in a person in Krishna consciousness.

Commentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya:

This verse shows the jivan mukta’s direct experience of brahman.

He, whose consciousness has taken the form of Brahman (yoga yukta atma), realizes by spiritual perception (iksate) the paramatma who resides in all entities (sarva bhuta stham atmanam), and is the resting place of all entities (atmani sarvabhutani), as brahman (sama darsinah).

Commentary by Sri Ramanuja of Sri Sampradaya:

6.29 (i) On account of the similarity between one self and other selves when They are separated from Prakrti (i.e., the body), all selves are by Themselves only of the nature of knowledge. Inequalities pertain only to Prakrti or the bodies they are embodied in. One whose mind is fixed in Yoga has the experience of the sameness of the nature of all the selves as centres of intelligence, the perceived difference being caused only by the body. When separated from the body all are alike because of their being forms of centres of intelligence. An enlightened Yogin therefore sees himself as abiding in all beings and all beings abiding in his self in the sense that he sees the similarity of the selves in himself and in every being. When one self is visualised, all selves become visulaised, because of the similarity of all selves. This is supported by the statements: ‘He sees sameness everywhere’ (6.29). The same is again referred to in, ‘This Yoga of equality which has been declared by you’ (6.33), and the statement ‘The Brahman when uncontaminated is the same everywhere’ (5.19).

Commentary by Sri Sridhara Swami of Rudra Sampradaya:

The necessity of realisation of the Brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence is being given by Lord Krishna. The mature yogi whose mind is spiritually enlightened by the practice of yoga or the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness by dhyana or meditation. Who perceives the Brahman everywhere and who sees omniscience and omnipresence of the atma or soul without any limitations equally existing in all beings from the highest demigod to an inanimate tree. Such a person realises the Supreme Being existing within himself and himself existing within the Supreme Being.

Commentary by Sri Madhvacharya of Brahma Sampradaya:

The objective and goal to be gained is given here by Lord Krishna. The atma or eternal soul residing within all beings is the omnipresent and omniscient Supreme Lord. All creatures also exist within the Supreme Lord as the atma as well. One who perceives this sees the Supreme Lord equally in everything from a blade of grass to the Brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence. Therefore it has been said that one sees the Supreme Lord abiding in all creatures and all creatures abiding in the Supreme Lord.

Now begins the summation.

The Supreme Lord abides in equal measure in all beings along with the atma or soul and is known as paramatma the Supreme Soul.

Commentary by Sri Keshava Kashmiri of Kumara Sampradaya:

Now Lord Krishna presents the four-fold divisions of the subsequent results of such a firmly established yogi or one perfected in the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness. Such a very advanced being has become united with the atma or soul thus perceiving the atma in all beings of multifarious, diverse natures and variegated physical and subtle bodies. This applies from the highest demigod known as Brahma down to an inanimate tree. How is it that such a yogi can perceive his atma existing in all beings and all beings existing in his atma. The words yoga-yuktatma meaning united with the nature of the Brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence, one sees all things with equal vision, without any distinction between them knowing that all forms are veritable products of prakriti or material nature. The purport is such a yogi sees all forms, even his own as manifestation of the Brahman and therefore there is no distinctive difference in his atma and the atma of others. The atma is eternal and pure and distinctly different from the physical body. So firmly adhering to self-realisation such a yogi becomes enlightened in all respects. Yet even the physical bodies are equal as well as they all manifest from the same primordial matter and all have a beginning and an end. So in this way there is no contradiction if the yogi perceives his atma existing in all beings and all beings existing in his atma.

Commentary by Sri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaita Sampradaya:

6.29 Yoga-yukta-atma, one who has his mind Self-absorbed through Yoga, whose mind is merged in samadhi; and sarvatra-sama-darsanah, who has the vision of sameness everywhere-who has the vision (darsana) of sameness (sama-tva), the knowledge of identity of the Self and Brahman everywhere (sarvatra) without exception, in all divergent objects beginning from Brahma to immovable things; iksate, sees; atmanam, the Self, his own Self; sarva-bhuta-stham, existing in everything; and sarva-bhutani, everything from Brahma to a clump of grass; unified atmani, in his Self. The fruit of this realization of the unity of the Self is being stated:

Commentary by Sri Abhinavagupta of Kaula Tantra Sampradaya:

6.29 Sarva – etc. Let him consider the Self to be entering into (i.e., inherent in and manifesting as) all beings as a perceiver (or as a subject); again let him unify all beings in the Self through his realisation of the Self as being object [for them]. As a result of this, there arises a capacity to observe equally and also arises the Yoga. This is in short what is meant here. The details have been dealt with by myself (Ag.) in [my] manual, like the bhedavadavidarana and [my commentary], the Devistotra-Vivarana; and hence they may be ascertained there only. The same idea is made clear [as] –

Sanskrit Shloka Without Transliteration Marks:

sarva-bhuta-stham atmanam
sarva-bhutani catmani
iksate yoga-yuktatma
sarvatra sama-darsanah

Sanskrit to English Word for Word Meanings:

sarva-bhūta-stham — situated in all beings; ātmānam — the Supersoul; sarva — all; bhūtāni — entities; ca — also; ātmani — in the Self; īkṣate — does see; yoga-yukta-ātmā — one who is dovetailed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; sarvatra — everywhere; sama-darśanaḥ — seeing equally.