उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः।
परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः।।13.23।।
।।13.23।।यह पुरुष प्रकृति(शरीर) के साथ सम्बन्ध रखनेसे उपद्रष्टा? उसके साथ मिलकर सम्मति? अनुमति देनेसे अनुमन्ता? अपनेको उसका भरणपोषण करनेवाला माननेसे भर्ता? उसके सङ्गसे सुखदुःख भोगनेसे भोक्ता? और अपनेको उसका स्वामी माननेसे महेश्वर बन जाता है। परन्तु स्वरूपसे यह पुरुष परमात्मा कहा जाता है। यह देहमें रहता हुआ भी देहसे पर (सम्बन्धरहित) ही है।
13.23 He who is the upadrasta, Witness, who while staying nearby does not Himself become involved: As when the priests and the performer of a sacrifice remain engaged in duties connected with the sacrifice, there is another (called Brahma) remaining nearby who is unengaged, is versed in the science of sacrifices and witnesses the merit or demerit of the activities of the priest and the performer of the sacrifice, similarly, He who is not engaged in the activities of and is different from the body and organs, who has characteristics other than theirs, and is the proximate (upa) observer (drasta) of the body and organs engaged in their duties, is the upa-drasta. Or: The observers are the body, eyes, mind, intellect and the soul. Of them the body is the external observer. Proceeding inwards from that (body), the Self is the inmost as also the proximate observer, compared with which there is no other higher and inner observer. The Self, because of being the most proximate observer, is the upadrasta. Or, It is the upadrasta since, like the non-looker of a sarifice, It witness everything. And He is the anu-manta, Permitter: Anumananam, approval, means satisfaction with those performers (viz body and organs) as also their perfomances. The agent of that (approval) is the anumanta. Or, He is the anumanta since, even though Himself not engaged in the activities of the body and organs, He appears to be favourably disposed towards and engaged in them. Or, He is the anumanta because, when the body and organs are engaged in their own functions, He remains as a witness and never dissuades them. It is the bharta, Sustainer: Bharanam means the continuance in their own state of the body, organs, mind and intellect, which reflect consciousness and have become aggregated owing to the need of serving the purpose [Viz enjoyment, or Liberation.-Tr.] of some other entity, viz the conscious Self. And that (continuance) is verily due to the consciousness that is the Self. In this sense the Self is said to be the Sustainer. It is the bhokta, Experiencer: As heat is by fire, similarly, the experiences of the intellect-in the form of happiness, sorrow and delusion in relation to all objects-, when born as though permeated by the consciousness that is the Self, are manifested differently by the Self which is of the nature of eternal Consciousness. In this sense the Self is said to be the Experiencer. He is maheswarah, the great God, because, as the Self of all and independent, He is the great Ruler. He is paramatma, the transcendental Self, because He is the Self which has the characteristics of being the supreme Witness etc. of (all) those-beginning from the body and ending with the intellect-which are imagined through ignorance to be the indwelling Self. He is api ca, also; uktah, spoken of, referred to, in the Upanisads; iti, as, with the words; He is the indwelling One, the paramatma, the transcendental Self. [Ast reads atah in place of antah. So the translation of the sentence will be: Therefore He is also referred to as the transcendental Self in the Upanisads.-Tr.] Where is He? The parah, suprem; purusah, Person, who is higher than the Unmanifest and who will be spoken of in, But different is the supreme Person who is spoken of as the transcendental Self (15.17); is asmin, in this; dehe, body. What has been presented in, ৷৷.also understand Me to be the Knower of the field (2), has been explained and conclude.
13.20-23 Prakrtim etc. upto parah. The Material Cause also is beginningless, because it has no other casue. Modifications : the cloth and the like. What is known as Material Cause is the basis for the process of cause-and-effect. But, the Soul, because of Its importance, constitutes the enjoyer. [Thus] the Material Cause and the Soul have verily an existence of interdependence just as that of the lame and the blind. Hence, the nature of the Soul is described by the authors of the scriptures by nomenclatures having different forms such as the Spectator and so on. The meaning, intended here is this : The Material Cause, Its modifications, the fourteen types of creation and also the Soul - this is all beginningless and perennial as it is completely illuminated by the category Brahman and is identical with it. Hence [the Bhagavat] said :
13.23 The self existing in the body becomes the spectator and approver of this body by means of the will in consonance with the functioning of the body. Likewise, It is the supporter of the body, Similarly, It becomes experiencer of the pleasure and pain resulting from the activities of the body. Thus, by virtue of ruling and supporting the body and by making the body completely subservient, It becomes the great lord (Mahesvara) in relation to the body, the senses and the mind. Sri Krsna will further declare: When the lord acires the body, and when he leaves it and goes on his way, he takes these as the wind carries scents from their places (15.8). In the body, It is said to be the supreme self in relation to the body, the senses and the mind. The word self (Atman) is applied to the body and the mind subseently. It is said afterwards: Some perceive the self by means of the self through meditation (13.24). The particle also (api) indicates that the self is the supreme lord? in relation to the body just as It is the supreme self. The supremacy of the self has been described in the text beginning with It is the beginningless brahman having Me for the Highest (13.12). It is true that the self (in Its emancipated state) has limitless power knowledge. But It becomes the great lord and the supreme self only in relation to the body. Such lordship and supremacy is the result of attachment to the Gunas arising from the beginningless conjunction with Prakrti.
Upadrashtaanumantaa cha bhartaa bhoktaa maheshwarah; Paramaatmeti chaapyukto dehe’smin purushah parah.
upadraṣhṭā—the Witness; anumantā—the Permitter; cha—and; bhartā—the Supporter; bhoktā—the Transcendental Enjoyer; mahā-īśhvaraḥ—the ultimate Controller; parama-ātmā—Superme Soul; iti—that; cha api—and also; uktaḥ—is said; dehe—within the body; asmin—this; puruṣhaḥ paraḥ—the Supreme Lord
