Throughout the Gita, Krishna informs Arjuna of how the spiritually realized see reality differently. Here’s a quick overview of Krishna’s major statements about a higher form of seeing.  

  • The wise (02.16: tattva-darshibhih) see both levels of reality: the fleeting material level and the enduring spiritual level. 
  • Those who see the soul appreciate it as amazing (02.29: ascharya-vat pashyati). 
  • The wise see holistically (03.20: sampashyan) that work itself can lead to liberation, and work responsibly.
  • Those who learn from the seers of truth (04.34: tattva-darshinah) see (04.35: drakshasy) that all living beings are in Krishna and are Krishna’s.
  • When we see that the paths of action and contemplation both can liberate us, only then do we truly see (05.05: yah pashyati sa pashyati). 
  • The wise see all living beings — human and nonhuman — equally (05.18: sama-darshinah). 
  • Those with a pacified mind see (06.20: pashyan) the self with the self and therein find supreme satisfaction. 
  • The advanced yogis see (06.29: ikshate) the Supersoul in everything and everything in the Supersoul. 
  • Those who see (06.30: pashyati) Krishna everywhere and everything in Krishna are never lost.   
  • Those with knowledge see (13.09: anudarshanam) birth, death, old age and disease to be life’s defining distresses. 
  • Those who see the Supreme situated equally in all living beings will never be degraded by their mind (13.29: samam pashyan). 
  • One who sees that material nature does everything and the soul does nothing actually sees (13.30: yah pashyati … sa pashyati). 
  • Those who see with the eyes of knowledge (13.35: pashyanti jnana-chakshushah) understand the difference between matter and spirit — and know the process for freeing spirit from matter. 
  • How the soul functions in the body and how it transmigrates can be seen only with the eyes of knowledge (15.10: pashyanti jnana-chakshushah). 
  • Those who think of themselves as the sole doers of their actions see with an uninformed intelligence (18.16: pashyaty akrta-buddhitvan). 

One-sentence summary:

By describing how spiritual seers see reality differently, Krishna invites us all to strive for gaining that vision. 

Think it over:

  • How do spiritual seers see other people differently?
  • How do they see human actions differently?
  • How do they see the world differently? 

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18.16: Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are.

How Krishna describes the vision of the seers

To know more about this verse, please click on the image