Word meanings
- 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
- ca
- and
- aham
- I
- teṣu
- in them
- avasthitaḥ
- dwell
Translations
All of this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect; all beings exist within Me, but I do not dwell within them.
The whole world is pervaded by Me, yet My form is not visible. All living beings have their being in Me, yet I am not confined by them.
This whole world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I am not contained within them!
।।9.4 -- 9.5।। यह सब संसार मेरे निराकार स्वरूपसे व्याप्त है। सम्पूर्ण प्राणी मेरेमें स्थित हैं; परन्तु मैं उनमें स्थित नहीं हूँ तथा वे प्राणी भी मुझ में स्थित नहीं हैं -- मेरे इस ईश्वर-सम्बन्धी योग-(सामर्थ्य-) को देख ! सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको उत्पन्न करनेवाला और उनका धारण, भरण-पोषण करनेवाला मेरा स्वरूप उन प्राणियोंमें स्थित नहीं है।Commentary
Avyaktamurti is Para Brahman or the Supreme Unmanifested Being invisible to the senses but cognisable through intuition. All beings from Brahma, the Creator, down to the blade of grass or an ant, dwell in the transcendental Para Brahman. They have no independent existence they exist through the Self which is the support for everythin, which underlies them all. Nothing here contains It. As Brahman is the Self of all beings, one may imagine that It dwells in them. But it is not so.
How could it be How can the Infinite be contained in a finite object Brahman has no connection or contact with any material object, just as a chair or a table has contact with the ground or a man or a book. So It does not dwell in those beings. That which has no connection or contact with objects or beings cannot be contained anywhere as if in a vessel, trunk, room or receptacle. The Self is not rooted in all these forms. It is not contained by any of these forms just as the ether is not contained in any form though all forms are derived from the ether.
All beings appear to be living in Brahman, but this is an illusion. If this illusion vanishes, nothing remains anywhere except Brahman. When ignorance, the cause of this illusion, disappears, the very idea of the existence of these beings also will vanish. In verses 4 and 5 the Lord uses a paradox or an apparent contradiction All beings dwell in Me and yet do not dwell in Me I do not dwell in them. For a thinker there is no real contradiction at all. Just as space contains all beings and yet is not touched by them, so also Para Brahman contains everything and yet is not touched by them.
Even Mulaprakriti, the source or womb of this world, is supported by Brahman. Brahman has no support or root. It rests in Its own pristine glory. (Cf.VII.12-24VIII.22)