यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते | सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते || ३३ ||
yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣmyād ākāśaṁ nopalipyate sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate
yathā—just as; sarva-gatam—all-pervading; saukṣmyāt—due to subtlety; ākāśam—the sky; na—never; upalipyate—is tainted; sarvatra—everywhere; avasthitaḥ—situated; dehe—in the body; tathā—so; ātmā—the Self; na—never; upalipyate—is tainted.
“Just as all-pervading space is not tainted because of its subtlety, so the Self, though pervading all bodies, is not tainted.”
The analogy of space (akasha) is among the most beautiful in the Gita. Space pervades everything — the inside of a garbage heap, the inside of a temple, the open ocean — yet it is tainted by none of them. When the garbage is removed, the space is not cleaned; it was never dirty. So the Self pervades all bodies and all experiences, but no experience — however debased or exalted — touches its nature. This is the absolute purity of consciousness.
You have had countless experiences — pleasant and unpleasant, noble and shameful. The awareness in which all these appeared remains — right now — as clean as it ever was. Nothing that has happened to you or through you has stained the awareness itself. This is not consolation but accurate description of reality. Let this recognition dissolve any lingering sense of spiritual unworthiness.