मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना |
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थित: || 4||
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na chāhaṁ teṣhvavasthitaḥ
mayā—by Me; tatam—pervaded; idam—this; sarvam—entire; jagat—cosmic manifestation; avyakta-mūrtinā—the unmanifested form; mat-sthāni—in Me; sarva-bhūtāni—all living beings; na—not; cha—and; aham—I; teṣhu—in them; avasthitaḥ—dwell
Translation:
This entire cosmic manifestation is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All living beings dwell in Me, but I do not dwell in them.
Commentary:
Paramatma is inconceivable by the senses and the mind. Even the elemental ether is not visible to the senses. How then can the chidakasa, the intelligence – consciousness (God) be an object of sense-perception? Just as the material world is pervaded by the elemental ether, even so by that supreme intelligence (chit) all beings are pervaded. So the whole universe is in Paramatma.
The Lord is not placed in the world, because when closely examined, the world has no existence like the snake which is superimposed on the rope. How can paramatma, the reality, exist in that unreality – the so-called world as we see it? So, it is said that all beings are in Atma (the Lord) and He is not in them.
As the Lord pervades all beings, material and mental the seeker should cognise His existence everywhere. He should not do evil deeds, should have love for all, and devotion to the Supreme.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
Ishan intended to retire to a solitary place and practise a special discipline of the Gayatri, through which Brahman is invoked. But the Master said that the Knowledge of Brahman was not possible without the complete destruction of worldliness. Further, he said that it was impossible for a man totally to withdraw his mind from the objects of the senses in the Kaliyuga, when his life was dependent on food. That is why the Master discouraged people from attempting the Vedic worship of Brahman and asked them to worship Sakti, the Divine Mother, who is identical with Brahman.
MASTER (to Ishan): “Why do you waste your time simply repeating ‘Neti, neti’? Nothing whatsoever can be specified about Brahman, except that It exists.
“Whatever we see or think about is the manifestation of the glory of the Primordial Energy, the Primal Consciousness. Creation, preservation, and destruction, living beings and the universe, and further, meditation and the meditator, bhakti and prema — all these are manifestations of the glory of that Power.
“But Brahman is identical with Its Power. On returning from Ceylon, Hanuman praised Rama, saying: ‘O Rama, You are the Supreme Brahman, and Sita is Your Sakti. You and She are identical.’ Brahman and Sakti are like the snake and its wriggling motion. Thinking of the snake, one must think of its wriggling motion, and thinking of its wriggling motion, one must think of the snake. Or they are like milk and its whiteness. Thinking of milk, one has to think of its colour, that is, whiteness, and thinking of the whiteness of milk, one has to think of milk itself. Or they are like water and its wetness. Thinking of water, one has to think of its wetness, and thinking of the wetness of water, one has to think of water.
“This Primal Power, Mahamaya, has covered Brahman. As soon as the covering is withdrawn, one realises: ‘I am what I was before’, ‘I am Thou; Thou art I’.
“As long as that covering remains, the Vedantic formula ‘I am He’, that is, man is the Supreme Brahman, does not rightly apply. The wave is part of the water, but the water is not part of the wave. As long as that covering remains, one should call on God as Mother. Addressing God, the devotee should say, ‘Thou art the Mother and I am Thy child; Thou art the Master and I am Thy servant.’ It is good to have the attitude of the servant toward the master. From this relationship of master and servant spring up other attitudes: the attitude of serene love for God, the attitude of friend toward friend, and so forth. When the master loves his servant, he may say to him, ‘Come, sit by my side; there is no difference between you and me.’ But if the servant comes forward of his own will to sit by the master, will not the master be angry?
“God’s play on earth as an Incarnation is the manifestation of the glory of the Chitsakti, the Divine Power. That which is Brahman is also Rama, Krishna, and Siva.”
ISHAN: “Yes, sir. Both Hari and Hara are derived from the same root. The difference lies only in the pratyaya.”
MASTER: “Yes, there is only One without a second. The Vedas speak-of It as ‘Om Satchidananda Brahma’, the Puranas as ‘Om Satchidananda Krishna’, and the Tantra as ‘Om Satchidananda Siva’.
“The Chitsakti, as Mahamaya, has deluded all with ignorance. It is said in the Adhyatma Ramayana that when the rishis saw Rama, they prayed to Him in these words only: ‘O Rama, please do not delude us with Your world-bewitching maya.'” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
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MASTER: “Pray to God. He is full of compassion. Will He not listen to the words of His devotee? He is the Kalpataru. You will get whatever you desire from Him.”
PUNDIT: “I haven’t thought deeply about these things before. But now I understand.”
MASTER: “God keeps a little of ‘I’ in His devotee even after giving him the Knowledge of Brahman. That ‘I’ is the ‘I of the devotee’, the ‘I of the jnani’. Through that ‘I’ the devotee enjoys the infinite play of God.
“The pestle7 was almost worn out with rubbing. Only a little was left. That fell into the underbrush and brought about the destruction of the lunar race, the race of the Yadus. The vijnani retains the ‘I of the devotee’, the ‘I of the jnani’, in order to taste the Bliss of God and teach people.
“The rishis of old had timid natures. They were easily frightened. Do you know their attitude? It was this: ‘Let me somehow get my own salvation; who cares for others?’ A hollow piece of drift-wood somehow manages to float; but it sinks if even a bird sits on it. But Narada and sages of his kind are like a huge log that not only can float across to the other shore but can carry many animals and other creatures as well. A steamship itself crosses the ocean and also carries people across.
“Teachers like Narada belong to the class of the vijnani. They were much more courageous than the other rishis. They are like an expert satrancha-player. You must have noticed how he shouts, as he throws the dice: “What do I want? Six? No, five! Here is five!’ And every time he throws the dice he gets the number he wants. He is such a clever player! And while playing he even twirls his moustaches.
“A mere jnani trembles with fear. He is like an amateur satrancha-player; He is anxious to move his pieces somehow to the safety zone, where they won’t be overtaken by his opponent. But a vijnani isn’t afraid of anything. He has realised both aspects of God: Personal and Impersonal. He has talked with God. He has enjoyed the Bliss of God.
“It is a joy to merge the mind in the Indivisible Brahman through contemplation. And it is also a joy to keep the mind on the Lila, the Relative, without dissolving it in the Absolute.
“A mere jnani is a monotonous person. He always analyses, saying: ‘It is not this, not this. The world is like a dream.’ But I have ‘raised both my hands’. Therefore I accept everything.
“Listen to a story. Once a woman went to see her weaver friend. The weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of silk thread, was very happy to see her friend and said to her: ‘Friend, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. Let me get you some refreshments.’ She left the room. The woman looked at the threads of different colours and was tempted. She hid a bundle of thread under one arm. The weaver returned presently with the refreshments and began to feed her guest with great enthusiasm. But, looking at the thread, she realised that her friend had taken a bundle. Hitting upon a plan to get it back, she said: ‘Friend, it is so long since I have seen you. This is a day of great joy for me. I feel very much like asking you to dance with me.’ The friend said, ‘Sister, I am feeling very happy too.’ So the two friends began to dance together. When the weaver saw that her friend danced without raising her hands, she said: ‘Friend, let us dance with both hands raised. This is a day of great joy.’ But the guest pressed one arm to her side and danced raising only the other. The weaver said: ‘How is this, friend? Why should you dance, with only one hand raised? Dance with me raising both hands. Look at me. See how I dance with both hands raised.’ But the guest still pressed one arm to her side. She danced with the other hand raised and said with a smile, ‘This is all I know of dancing.'”
The Master continued: “I don’t press my arm to my side. Both my hands are free. I am not afraid of anything. I accept both the Nitya and the Lila, both the Absolute and the Relative.
“I said to Keshab Sen that he would not be able to realise God without renouncing the ego. He said, ‘Sir, in that case I should not be able to keep my organization together.’ Thereupon I said to him: ‘I am asking you to give up the “unripe ego”, the “wicked ego”. But there is no harm in the “ripe ego”, the “child ego”, the “servant ego”, the “ego of Knowledge”.’
“The worldly man’s ego, the ‘ignorant ego’, the ‘unripe ego’, is like a thick stick. It divides, as it were, the water of the Ocean of Satchidananda. But the ‘servant ego’, the ‘child ego’, the ‘ego of Knowledge’, is like a line on the water. One clearly sees that there is only one expanse of water. The dividing line makes it appear that the water has two parts, but one clearly sees that in reality there is only one expanse of water.
“Sankaracharya kept the ‘ego of Knowledge’ in order to teach people. God keeps in many people the ‘ego of a jnani’ or the ‘ego of a bhakta’ even after they have attained Brahmajnana. Hanuman, after realizing God in both His Personal and His Impersonal aspect, cherished toward God the attitude of a servant, a devotee. He said to Rama: ‘O Rama, sometimes I think that You are the whole and I am a part of You. Sometimes I think that You are the Master and I am Your servant. And sometimes, Rama, when I contemplate the Absolute, I see that I am You and You are I.’
“Yasoda became grief-stricken at being separated from Krishna, and called on Radha. Radha saw Yasoda’s suffering and revealed herself to her as the divine Sakti, which was her real nature. She said to Yasoda: ‘Krishna is Chidatma, Absolute Consciousness, and I am Chitsakti, the Primal Power. Ask a boon of Me.’ Yasoda said: ‘I don’t want Brahmajnana. Please grant me only this; that I may see the form of Gopala in my meditation; that I may always have the company of Krishna’s devotees; that I may always serve the devotees of God; that I may always chant God’s name and glories.’
“Once the gopis felt a great desire to see the forms of the Lord. So Krishna asked them to dive into the water of the Jamuna. No sooner did they dive into the water than they all arrived at Vaikuntha. There they saw the form of the Lord endowed with His six celestial splendours. But they did not like it. They said to Krishna: ‘We want to see Gopala and serve Him. Please grant us that boon alone. We don’t want anything else.’
“Before His departure for Mathura, Krishna wanted to give the Knowledge of Brahman to the gopis. He said to them: ‘I dwell both inside and outside all beings. Why should you see only one form of Mine?’ (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: What is the nature of Paramatma?
Answer: He is most subtle and inconceivable by the senses and the mind.
Question: Where is Paramatma?
Answer: He pervades all beings and the whole universe.
Question: Where do all beings exist?
Answer: In Paramatma.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9 🔻 (34 Verses)
