सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि |
ईक्षते योगयुक्तात्मा सर्वत्र समदर्शन: || 29||
sarva-bhūta-stham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni chātmani
īkṣhate yoga-yuktātmā sarvatra sama-darśhanaḥ
sarva-bhūta-stham—situated in all living beings; ātmānam—Supreme Soul; sarva—all; bhūtāni—living beings; cha—and; ātmani—in God; īkṣhate—sees; yoga-yukta-ātmā—one united in consciousness with God; sarvatra—everywhere; sama-darśhanaḥ—equal vision
Translation:
The sage harmonised in yoga sees the Self in all beings, and all beings in the Self; he sees the same everywhere.
Commentary:
Here the word yoga means union with Atma, the merging of the individual self in Brahman. The sage who has attained this state of yoga sees everything in his own Self, and his own Self in everything. He looks upon everything with an equal eye. Let us understand the position.
The whole of the objective universe is super-imposed on the basic universal consciousness – Atma or Self or Brahman. As the dream is superimposed in the consciousness of the wakeful man, as the snake is superimposed on the rope, so the entire universe is superimposed on Atma. What is superimposed cannot in reality be different from the original substance. The snake is not different from the rope. It has no separate existence. Even so, the seeker who has realised Brahman in himself, finds the same everywhere. This vision is possible only for the sage who has attained union with Brahman (Atma) by the practice of Dhyana Yoga, or any other ‘Yoga. The sage has discovered that he is not the body, and so instead of limiting himself to the body and seeing everything as separate fragments, he sees the all-pervading Atma in himself and in all things. Separateness comes from identification with the body. As body, one is different from everything else, and everything is different from every other thing. This separateness is born of ignorance which binds man to the body. When this ignorance is dispelled, man comes to know that he is Atma, and Atma is universal. So he finds that he as Atma is all that exists, and all that exists is himself as Atma. This vision removes all conflicts and tensions everywhere.
The sage is therefore full of love and compassion for all, and he takes no credit for being generous and large-hearted because love for others is only love of Self in all things. It has been taught that selfless love for others is the highest morality, the highest ethical principle. The explanation for this ethical doctrine is the spiritual concept of Self-realisation. Why do people advocate love for all? It is because there is only one Self in all. Love reveals this oneness. The Yogi knows the secret of life and the human personality. He knows that a separate existence for himself and for everyone else is only a myth and a superstition. What exists in all is Atma, and Atma alone exists. This is the basis of all morality and the explanation of all love.
The seeker who believes this, though he has not attained direct vision, should cultivate an equal attitude towards all beings. He should free himself from anger, envy, jealousy, and all uncharitable thoughts. He should have a large-hearted friendly feeling towards all.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
What is the reason that I should be moral? You cannot explain it except when you come to know the truth as given in the Gita: “He who sees everyone in himself, and himself in everyone, the sage does not injure the Self by the self.”[Source]
The first end of life is knowledge; the second end of life is happiness. Knowledge and happiness lead to freedom. But not one can attain liberty until every being (ant or dog) has liberty. Not one can be happy until all are happy. When you hurt anyone you hurt yourself, for you and your brother are one. He is indeed a yogi who sees himself in the whole universe and the whole universe in himself. Self-sacrifice, not self-assertion, is the law of the highest universe. The world is so evil because Jesus’ teaching, “Resist not evil”, has never been tried. Selflessness alone will solve the problem. Religion comes with intense self-sacrifice. Desire nothing for yourself. Do all for others. This is to live and move and have your being in God.[Source]
A devotee asked Swami Saradananda, ‘Swami, why do you love us so much?
Swami Saradananda did not say anything. After a few days when that devotee came to Udbodhan, the Swami said, ‘ A few days ago I went to Belur Math and prostrated before Sri Ramakrishna. The Master appeared before me and said, “You love all because you find me in all.” That is the answer I would give today.’” (Source: God lived with Them, p.355)
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER (to Ishan): “Please tell us the story of the boy who posted the letter.”
ISHAN (with a smile): “A boy once heard that God is our Creator. So he wrote a letter to God, setting forth his prayers, and posted it. The address he put on the envelope was ‘Heaven’.”
MASTER (with a smile): “Did you hear that story? One succeeds in spiritual life when one develops a faith like that boy’s. (To Ishan) Tell us about the renunciation of activities.”
ISHAN: “After the attainment of God, religious duties such as the sandyha drop away. One day some people were sitting on the bank of the Ganges performing the sandyha. But one of them abstained from it. On being asked the reason, he said: ‘I am observing asoucha. I cannot perform the sandyha ceremony.6 In my case the defilement is due to both a birth and a death. My mother, Ignorance, is dead, and my son, Self-Knowledge, has been born.’“
MASTER: “Tell us, also, how caste distinctions drop away when one attains Self-Knowledge.”
ISHAN: “Sankaracharya was once climbing the steps after finishing his bath in the Ganges, when he saw just in front of him an untouchable who had a pack of dogs with him. ‘You have touched me!’ said Sankara. ‘Revered sir,’ said the pariah, “I have not touched you, nor have you touched me. The Self is the Inner Ruler of all beings and cannot be contaminated. Is there any difference between the sun’s reflection in wine and its reflection in the Ganges?'” (BG 6.29, BG 13.28, BG 13.29)
MASTER (with a smile): “And about harmony: how one can realise God through all paths.”
ISHAN (smiling): “Both Hari and Hara are derived from the same root.7 The difference is only in the pratyaya.8 In reality. He who is Hari is also Hara. If a man has faith in God, then it doesn’t matter whom he worships.”
MASTER: “And please tell us also how the heart of the sadhu is the greatest of all.”
ISHAN: “This earth is the largest thing we see anywhere around us. But larger than the earth is the ocean, and larger than the ocean is the sky. But Vishnu, the Godhead, has covered earth, sky, and the nether world with one of His feet. And that foot of Vishnu is enshrined in the sadhu’s heart. Therefore the heart of a holy man is the greatest of all.”
The devotees were delighted with Ishan’s words. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
After the midday meal Sri Ramakrishna rested a few minutes in his room. M. was sitting on the door. The Master was delighted to hear the music that was being played in the nahabat. He then explained to M. that Brahman alone has become the universe and all living beings.
MASTER: “Referring to a certain place, someone once said to me: ‘Nobody sings the name of God there. It has no holy atmosphere.’ No sooner did he say this than I perceived that it was God alone who had become all living beings. They appeared as countless bubbles or reflections in the Ocean of Satchidananda.
“Again, I find sometimes that living beings are like so many pills made of Indivisible Consciousness. Once I was on my way to Burdwan from Kamarpukur. At one place I ran to the meadow to see how living beings are sustained. I saw ants crawling there. It appeared to me that every place was filled with Consciousness.”
Hazra entered the room and sat on the floor.
MASTER: “Again, I perceive that living beings are like different flowers with various layers of petals. They are also revealed to me as bubbles, some big, some small.”
While describing in this way the vision of different divine forms, the Master went into an ecstatic state and said, “I have become! I am here!” Uttering these words he went into samadhi. His body was motionless. He remained in that state a long time and then gradually regained partial consciousness of the world. He began to laugh like a boy and pace the room. His eyes radiated bliss as if he had seen a wondrous vision. His gaze was not fixed on any particular object, and his face beamed with joy. Still pacing the room, the Master said: “I saw the paramahamsa who stayed under the banyan tree walking thus with just such a smile. Am I too in that state of mind?” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
How the spiritually minded should look upon the worldly
M. guessed that the conversation was about worldly men, who look down on those who aspire to spiritual things. The Master was talking about the great number of such people in the world, and about how to deal with them.
MASTER (to Narendra): “How do you feel about it? Worldly people say all kinds of things about the spiritually minded. But look here! When an elephant moves along the street, any number of curs and other small animals may bark and cry after it; but the elephant doesn’t even look back at them. If people speak ill of you, what will you think of them?”
NARENDRA: “I shall think that dogs are barking at me.”
God in every being
MASTER (smiling): “Oh, no! You mustn’t go that far, my child! (Laughter.) God dwells in all beings. But you may be intimate only with good people; you must keep away from the evil-minded. God is even in the tiger; but you cannot embrace the tiger on that account. (Laughter.) You may say, ‘Why run away from a tiger, which is also a manifestation of God?’ The answer to that is: ‘Those who tell you to run away are also manifestations of God — and why shouldn’t you listen to them?’
Parable of the “elephant God”
“Let me tell you a story. In a forest there lived a holy man who had many disciples. One day he taught them to see God in all beings and, knowing this, to bow low before them all. A disciple went to the forest to gather wood for the sacrificial fire. Suddenly he heard an outcry: ‘Get out of the way! A mad elephant is coming!’ All but the disciple of the holy man took to their heels. He reasoned that the elephant was also God in another form. Then why should he run away from it? He stood still, bowed before the animal, and began to sing its praises. The mahut of the elephant was shouting: ‘Run away! Run away!’ But the disciple didn’t move. The animal seized him with its trunk, cast him to one side, and went on its way. Hurt and bruised, the disciple lay unconscious on the ground. Hearing what had happened, his teacher and his brother disciples came to him and carried him to the hermitage. With the help of some medicine he soon regained consciousness. Someone asked him, ‘You knew the elephant was coming — why didn’t you leave the place?’ ‘But’, he said, ‘our teacher has told us that God Himself has taken all these forms, of animals as well as men. Therefore, thinking it was only the elephant God that was coming, I didn’t run away.’ At this the teacher said: ‘Yes, my child, it is true that the elephant God was coming; but the mahut God forbade you to stay there. Since all are manifestations of God, why didn’t you trust the mahut’s words? You should have heeded the words of the mahut God.’ (Laughter.) “It is said in the scriptures that water is a form of God. But some water is fit to be used for worship, some water tor washing the face, and some only for washing plates or dirty linen. This last sort cannot be used for drinking or for a holy purpose. In like manner, God undoubtedly dwells in the hearts of all — holy and unholy, righteous and unrighteous; but a man should not have dealings with the unholy, the wicked, the impure. He must not be intimate with them. With some of them he may exchange words, but with others he shouldn’t go even that far. He should keep aloof from such people.”
How to deal with the wicked
A DEVOTEE: “Sir, if a wicked man is about to do harm, or actually does so, should we keep quiet then?”
MASTER: “A man living in society should make a show of tamas to protect himself from evil-minded people. But he should not harm anybody in anticipation of harm likely to be done him.
Parable of the snake
“Listen to a story. Some cowherd boys used to tend their cows in a meadow where a terrible poisonous snake lived. Everyone was on the alert for fear of it. One day a brahmachari was going along the meadow. The boys ran to him and said; ‘Revered sir, please don’t go that way. A venomous snake lives over there.’ ‘What of it, my good children?’ said the brahmachari. ‘I am not afraid of the snake. I know some mantras.’ So saying, he continued on his way along the meadow. But the cowherd boys, being afraid, did not accompany him. In the mean time the snake moved swiftly toward him with upraised hood. As soon as it came near, he recited a mantra, and the snake lay at his feet like an earthworm. The brahmachari said: ‘Look here. Why do you go about doing harm? Come, I will give you a holy word. By repeating it you will learn to love God. Ultimately you will realise Him and so get rid of your violent nature.’ Saying this, he taught the snake a holy word and initiated him into spiritual life. The snake bowed before the teacher and said, ‘Revered sir, how shall I practise spiritual discipline?’ ‘Repeat that sacred word’, said the teacher, ‘and do no harm to anybody.’ As he was about to depart, the brahmachari said, ‘I shall see you again.’
“Some days passed and the cowherd boys noticed that the snake would not bite. They threw stones at it. Still it showed no anger; it behaved as if it were an earthworm. One day one of the boys came close to it, caught it by the tail, and, whirling it round and round, dashed it again and again on the ground and threw it away. The snake vomited blood and became unconscious. It was stunned. It could not move. So, thinking it dead, the boys went their way.
“Late at night the snake regained consciousness. Slowly and with great difficulty it dragged itself into its hole; its bones were broken and it could scarcely move. Many days passed. The snake became a mere skeleton covered with a skin. Now and then, at night, it would come out in search of food. For fear of the boys it would not leave its hole during the day-time. Since receiving the sacred word from the teacher, it had given up doing harm to others. It maintained its life on dirt, leaves, or the fruit that dropped from the trees.
“About a year later the brahmachari came that way again and asked after the snake. The cowherd boys told him that it was dead. But he couldn’t believe them. He knew that the snake would not die before attaining the fruit of the holy word with which it had been initiated. He found his way to the place and, searching here and there, called it by the name he had given it. Hearing the teacher’s voice, it came out of its hole and bowed before him with great reverence. ‘How are you?’ asked the brahmachari. ‘I am well, sir’, replied the snake. ‘But’, the teacher asked, ‘why are you so thin?’ The snake replied: ‘Revered sir, you ordered me not to harm anybody. So I have been living only on leaves and fruit. Perhaps that has made me thinner.’
“The snake had developed the quality of sattva; it could not be angry with anyone. It had totally forgotten that the cowherd boys had almost killed it.
“The brahmachari said: ‘It can’t be mere want of food that has reduced you to this state. There must be some other reason. Think a little.’ Then the snake remembered that the boys had dashed it against the ground. It said: ‘Yes, revered sir, now I remember. The boys one day dashed me violently against the ground. They are ignorant, after all. They didn’t realise what a great change had come over my mind. How could they know I wouldn’t bite or harm anyone?’ The brahmachari exclaimed: ‘What a shame! You are such a fool! You don’t know how to protect yourself. I asked you not to bite, but I didn’t forbid you to hiss. Why didn’t you scare them by hissing?’
“So you must hiss at wicked people. You must frighten them lest they should do you harm. But never inject your venom into them. One must not injure others. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Related Articles:
- Its hands and feet are everywhere; Its eyes, heads, and faces are everywhere; Its ears are everywhere; Its existence envelops all. (BG 13.14)
- He who sees the Supreme Lord abiding alike in all beings, and not perishing when they perish— verily he alone sees. (BG 13.28)
- Because he sees the Lord present alike everywhere, he does not injure Self by self, and thus he reaches the supreme state. (BG 13.29)
- The wise man beholds all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings; for that reason he does not hate anyone. (Isha Upanishad, Verse 6)
Question: What qualities should the Yogi possess?
Answer: He should look upon all beings with an equal eye, and see the Self in all, and all in the Self.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 6 
(47 Verses)
