Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13, Verse 22

उपद्रष्टानुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः । परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः

upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ | paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe'sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ

Translation

Spectator and Permitter, Supporter, Enjoyer, the Great Lord, and also spoken of as the Supreme Self, (is) the Puruṣa Supreme in this body.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

upadraṣṭā

supervisor

anumantā

permitter

ca

and

bhartā

supporter

bhoktā

enjoyer

maheśvaraḥ

the great Lord

paramātmā

the Supreme Self

iti

thus

ca

and

api

also

uktaḥ

called

dehe

in the body

asmin

(in) this

puruṣaḥ

the spirit

paraḥ

highest

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Spectator (Upadraṣṭṛ): a bystander and a witness, Himself not acting. When priests and the sacrificer are engaged in a sacrificial act, there is another, an expert in sacrificial matters, sitting by their side, not taking part in the act, and discerning what is good and bad; just so, not taking part in the activities of the body and the senses, the Self is distinct from them, a near witness. Permitter (Anumantṛ): expressing approbation concerning the acts of those who are engaged in action; or, though Himself not engaged in action while the body and senses are active, He seems to be active in co-operation with them. Supporter (Bhartṛ): The body, the senses, manas and buddhi, which aggregate together to serve the purposes of the Intelligent Self, are what they are only as made by that Intelligent Self. Enjoyer (Bhoktṛ): The Self is the enjoyer because by the Self whose inherent nature is eternal intelligence (nitya-chaitanya-svarūpa), just as heat is the inherent nature of fire, are clearly perceived all states of mind constituted of pleasure, pain and delusion. The Great Lord: As one with the whole universe and independent of all, He is the Great One as well as the Lord. The Supreme Self (Paramātman): the Self who has been defined as the Spectator, etc., is Supreme, because He is superior to all those things — from the physical body up to the Avyakta — which are through ignorance mistaken for the Inner Self.