Gita : Ch-9. Slo-4.

Srimad  Bhagavad-Gita :


Chapter-9. ( Raja-vidya-raja-guhya-yogam )


Slokam-4. (  By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. )




maya    tatamidam    sarvam   jagadavyaktamurtina,



matsthani    sarvabhutani     na    cham    teshvavasthitah.





avyaktamurtina   =   unmanifested   sense-organs   less   form;

maya   idam   sarvam   jagat   =   but   by   Me,   all   these   manifestations,  and  all   cosmic    manifestation;  

tatam   =   is  spread;

sarvabhutani   matsthani   =    all   living   and   non-living   things   unto   Me   (  exist   in  Me  );

aham   ca   teshu   =   but   I  am   in   them;

na   avasthitah   =   never   exist  (  present  ).




Lord Krishna has discussed this sacred spiritual knowledge which leads to Him by praising the merits of following it and stating the consequences incurred by not following it.

Now He calls the attention of the listener by revealing that He pervades the sarvam jagad or complete material cosmic manifestation.

How does He accomplish this?



By dint of His unmanifest potency in the form of the brahman the spiritual substratum pervading all existence which is beyond the perception of the five senses.
All beings movable and immovable reside within Lord Krishna who is the source of all creation.

The Vedic scriptures declare that He is the atma or soul within which permeates all sentient beings and impels them to perform actions.

Also Sahadeva's statement in the Sabhaparva of the Mahabharata that the mind, intellect, cosmic intelligence, wind, fire, water, earth, ether and the four fold beings reside within the Supreme Lord Krishna.

But where does He reside?




He reveals that He is in each and very living entity as paramatma the supersoul and that He is the substratum of all beings; but none are His substratum for He is His own substratum and does not depend upon anything for residing and functioning.

This is also confirmed in the Bhuma Vidya section of the Chandogya Upanisad VII.XXIV.I where it states that: On Earth people call the possession of cows, horses, elephants, gold, property, palaces etc. as greatness but the Supreme Lord does not think thus because clearly each thing is established upon another.

In VII.XXV.I of the Chandogya Upanisad it states:That omnipresence is above and below and to the east and the west and the north and the south. Indeed it is the total material creation.



The complete cosmic creation constituted of variegated myriad of sentient and insentient beings is permeated by the Supreme Lord Krishna.

The words avyakta-murttina mean His subtle form manifested as the brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence.

It is indiscernible by the material senses and is unable to be perceived by the mind.

Although secretly hidden, He is manifested internally in the unrivalled presence of paramatma the purely spiritual supreme soul in everything sentient and insentient.

So in spirit He pervades everywhere.




Lord Krishna does this in relation to universal creation as the Supreme Sovereign Lord manifesting it and also by maintaining and sustaining it.

As stated in the Brihadaranyaka Upanisad V.VII.III beginning ya prithivyam tishtham or He who abides in earth but whom earth knows not and He to whom in the interior of earth is sovereign ruler and in mantram V.VII.XXII beginning ya atmani tishtham meaning He who resides in the soul but the soul knows not and He to whom the soul is the body who from the interior of the soul is sovereign ruler.

Both verses confirm His supreme presence and pervasive nature in everything which is sentient as well as insentient; but totally unperceived. By reference to earth, body, soul establishes complete compliance to His sovereign rulership and establishes the dependence of all things upon Him as they derive their very existence from Him.

Hence all existences and everything existing in all existences have their abode within the Supreme Lord.



Thus after causing one to become inquisitive by so praising this supreme and confidential wisdom, Lord Krishna expounds upon it in this slokam and the next.

The words sarvam jagat mean the whole cosmic material manifestation.

This He has revealed is permeated by Him in the unmanifest form of the brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence which is beyond the ability of the senses to perceive.

The Taittriya Upanisad II.VI states: That the Supreme Lord as the substratum of everything projects it into everything created.

Therefore all beings moving or stationary abide within the Supreme Lord who embodies the cause of all beings.

Although this is a reality still He is not part of any their effects unlike clay which effects can be seen as an ingredient in plates and pots.

The Supreme Lord is unattached and unaffected like space containing unlimited variegated forms but is not affected by or attached to any of them.

To be continued  ...