Bhagavad-gītā 6.31

Explain simply

Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa

सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः ।
सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ॥३१॥

sarva-bhūta-sthitaṁ yo māṁ
bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ
sarvathā vartamāno 'pi
sa yogī mayi vartate

Word for word (synonyms)

sarva-bhūta-sthitam
situated in everyone's heart
yaḥ
he who
mām
unto Me
bhajati
serves in devotional service
ekatvam
oneness
āsthitaḥ
thus situated
sarvathā
in all respects
vartamānaḥ
being situated
api
in spite of
saḥ
he
yogī
transcendentalist
mayi
unto Me
vartate
remains

Translation

The yogī who knows that I and the Supersoul within all creatures are one worships Me and remains always in Me in all circumstances.

Defined in the Gītā

Yogī

Who is a real yogī?

The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work.

Bhagavad-gītā 6.1

See the definition

Purport

Other scriptures cited in this purport: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhuNārada-pañcarātra

A yogī who is practicing meditation on the Supersoul sees within himself the plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu—with four hands, holding conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower. The yogī should know that Viṣṇu is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa in this form of Supersoul is situated in everyone's heart. Furthermore, there is no difference between the innumerable Supersouls present in the innumerable hearts of living entities. Nor is there a difference between a Kṛṣṇa conscious person always engaged in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa and a perfect yogī engaged in meditation on the Supersoul. The yogī in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—even though he may be engaged in various activities while in material existence—remains always situated in Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī: nikhileṣu avasthāsu jīvanmukta sa ucyate. A devotee of the Lord, always acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is automatically liberated. In the Nārada-pañcarātra this is confirmed in this way:

dik-kālādy-anavacchinne kṛṣṇe ceto vidhāya ca
tanmayo bhavati kṣipraṁ jīvo brahmaṇi yojayet.

"By concentrating one's attention on the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa, who is all-pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him."

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice. This very understanding that Kṛṣṇa is present as Paramātmā in everyone's heart makes the yogī faultless. The Vedas confirm this inconceivable potency of the Lord as follows:

eko 'pi san bahudhā yo 'vabhāti
aiśvaryād rūpam ekaṁ ca sūryavad bahudheyate.

"Viṣṇu is one, and yet He is certainly all-pervading. By His inconceivable potency, in spite of His one form, He is present everywhere. As the sun, He appears in many places at once."

What this verse teaches

Actions of a perfect yogī

Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.