यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा |
तत्देवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोंऽशसम्भवम् || 41||
yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śhrīmad ūrjitam eva vā
tat tad evāvagachchha tvaṁ mama tejo ’nśha-sambhavam
yat yat—whatever; vibhūtimat—opulent; sattvam—being; śhrī-mat—beautiful; ūrjitam—glorious; eva—also; vā—or; tat tat—all that; eva—only; avagachchha—know; tvam—you; mama—my; tejaḥ—splendor; anśha—a part; sambhavam—born of
Translation:
Whatever glorious or beautiful or mighty being exists anywhere, know that it has sprung from but a spark of My splendour.
Commentary:
Whatever there is good – the profusion of knowledge, purity of heart, righteousness, beauty, power and splendour – all that is only a manifested fragment of the Lord’s glory. All talents, all faculties, all arts and sciences, all intelligence, order, discipline, all that is admirable, grand, great and splendid, are the manifestations of the Lord’s glory. Let no man imagine that he has anything to be proud of. If he has prosperity, that prosperity is the Lord’s; if he has power and intelligence, all that is the Lord’s; if he has genius that genius is the Lord’s. He who thinks that they are his own possessions is guilty of misappropriating the Lord’s plenty, and should suffer the penalty of loss and bereavement. These great attributes of the Lord should be contemplated continuously, so that they may become part and parcel of one’s own nature and lead him to union with the Lord.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
Whatever is pleasure and happiness and light in the universe belongs to Purusha; but it is a compound, because it is Purusha plus Prakriti. “Wherever there is any happiness, wherever there is any bliss, there is a spark of that immortality which is God.”[Source]
Whenever the world goes down, the Lord comes to help it forward; and so He does from time to time and place to place. In another passage He speaks to this effect: Wherever thou findest a great soul of immense power and purity struggling to raise humanity, know that he is born of My splendour, that I am there working through him.[Source]
I will find you the answer in the words of Krishna himself: “Whenever virtue subsides and irreligion prevails, I come down. Again and again I come. Therefore, whenever thou seest a great soul struggling to uplift mankind, know that I am come, and worship.”[Source]
It is the same light coming through glasses of different colours. And these little variations are necessary for purposes of adaptation. But in the heart of everything the same truth reigns. The Lord has declared to the Hindu in His incarnation as Krishna, “I am in every religion as the thread through a string of pearls. Wherever thou seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power raising and purifying humanity, know thou that I am there.” And what has been the result? I challenge the world to find, throughout the whole system of Sanskrit philosophy, any such expression as that the Hindu alone will be saved and not others.[Source]
This our sages knew, and, therefore, left it open to all Indian people to worship such great personages, such Incarnations. Nay, the greatest of these Incarnations goes further: “Wherever an extraordinary spiritual power is manifested by external man, know that I am there; it is from Me that that manifestation comes.” That leaves the door open for the Hindu to worship the Incarnations of all the countries in the world. The Hindu can worship any sage and any saint from any country whatsoever, and as a fact we know that we go and worship many times in the churches of the Christians, and many, many times in the Mohammedan mosques, and that is good. Why not? Ours, as I have said, is the universal religion. It is inclusive enough, it is broad enough to include all the ideals. All the ideals of religion that already exist in the world can be immediately included, and we can patiently wait for all the ideals that are to come in the future to be taken in the same fashion, embraced in the infinite arms of the religion of the Vedanta.[Source]
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER (to Nanda): “According to the Gita a man who is honoured and respected by many people possesses a special power of God. You have divine power.”
NANDA: “All men have the same power.”
MASTER (sharply): “You all say the same thing. Can all men ever possess power to the same degree? God no doubt dwells in all beings as the all-pervading Spirit, but the manifestations of His Power are different in different beings.
“Vidyasagar, too, said the same thing. He said, ‘Has God given some more power and some less?’ Thereupon I said to him: ‘If there are not different manifestations of His Power, then why have we come to see you? Have you grown two horns on your head?'” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
The Master was highly pleased with the ostad’s music. He said to the musician, “There is a special manifestation of God’s power in a man who has any outstanding gift, such as proficiency in music.”
(Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
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MASTER (to M., tenderly): “Why don’t you come here so frequently now?”
M: “Not for any special reason. I have been rather busy at home.”
MASTER: “Yesterday I came to know Baburam’s inner nature. That is why I have been trying so hard to persuade him to live with me. The mother bird hatches the egg in proper time. Boys like Baburam are pure in heart. They have not yet fallen into the clutches of ‘woman and gold’. Isn’t that so?”
M: “It is true, sir. They are still stainless.”
MASTER: “They are like a new pot. Milk kept in it will not turn sour.”
M: “Yes, sir.”
MASTER: “I need Baburam here. I pass through certain spiritual states when I need someone like him. He says he must not, all at once, live with me permanently, for it will create difficulties. His relatives will make trouble. I am asking him to come here Saturdays and Sundays.”
The pundit entered the room with his friends. He had finished his devotions and was ready to eat the refreshments. One of his companions asked the Master: “Shall we succeed in spiritual life? Please tell us what our way is.”
MASTER: “You all have the yearning for liberation. If an aspirant has yearning, that is enough for him to realise God. Don’t eat any food of the sraddha ceremony.14 Live in the world like an unchaste woman. She performs forms her household duties with great attention, but her mind dwells day and night on her paramour. Perform your duties in the world but keep your mind always fixed on God.“
The pundit finished eating his refreshments.
MASTER (to the pundit): “You have read the Gita, no doubt. It says that there is a special power of God in the man who is honoured and respected by all.”
The pundit quoted the verse from the Gita.
MASTER: “You surely possess divine power.”
PUNDIT: “Shall I labour with perseverance to finish the task that I have accepted?”
Sri Ramakrishna forced himself, as it were, to say, “Yes.” He soon changed the conversation.
MASTER: “One cannot but admit the manifestation of power. Vidyasagar once asked me, ‘Has God given more power to some than to others?’ I said to him: ‘Certainly. Otherwise, how can one man kill a hundred? If there is no special manifestation of power, then why is Queen Victoria so much honoured and respected? Don’t you admit it?’ He agreed with me.”
The pundit and his friends saluted the Master and were about to take their leave. Sri Ramakrishna said to the pundit: “Come again. One hemp-smoker rejoices in the company of another hemp-smoker. They even embrace each other. But they hide at the sight of people not of their own kind. A cow licks the body of her calf; but she threatens a strange cow with her horns.” (All laugh.)
The pundit left the room. With a smile the Master said: “He has become ‘diluted’ even in one day. Did you notice how modest he was? And he accepted everything I said.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
Sri Ramakrishna began to talk with M. Other devotees, too, were present.
MASTER (to M.): “How do you feel about Shashadhar?”
M: “He is very nice.”
MASTER: “He is very intelligent, isn’t he?”
M: “Yes, sir. He is very erudite.”
MASTER: “According to the Gita there is a power of God in one who is respected and honoured by many. But Shashadhar has still a few things to do.
What will he accomplish with mere scholarship? He needs to practise some austerity. It is necessary to practise some spiritual discipline. …..
“Michael Madhusudan Dutt visited the temple garden when Narayan Shastri was living with me. Dwarika Babu, Mathur’s eldest son, brought him here. The owners of the temple garden were about to get into a lawsuit with the English proprietors of the neighbouring powder magazine; so they wanted Michael’s advice. I met him in the big room next to the manager’s office. Narayan Shastri was with me. I asked Narayan to talk to him. Michael couldn’t talk very well in Sanskrit. He made mistakes. Then they talked in the popular dialect. Narayan Shastri asked him his reason for giving up the Hindu religion. Pointing to his stomach, Michael said, ‘It was for this.’ Narayan said, ‘What shall I say to a man who gives up his religion for his belly’s sake?’ Thereupon Michael asked me to say something. I said: ‘I don’t know why, but I don’t feel like saying anything. Someone seems to be pressing my tongue.’” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
(To Vijay) “There was a time when I too would meditate on God with my eyes closed.2 Then I said to myself: ‘Does God exist only when I think of Him with my eyes closed? Doesn’t He exist when I look around with my eyes open?’ Now, when I look around with my eyes open, I see that God dwells in all beings. He is the Indwelling Spirit of all — men, animals and other living beings, trees and plants, sun and moon, land and water. (BG 10.42)
“Why do I seek Shivanath? He who meditates on God for many days has substance in him, has divine power in him. Further, he who sings well, plays well on a musical instrument, or has mastered any one art, has in him real substance and the power of God. This is the view of the Gita. It is said in the Chandi that he who is endowed with physical beauty has in him substance and the power of God. (To Vijay) Ah, what a beautiful nature Kedar has! No sooner does he come to me than he bursts into tears. His eyes are always red and swim in tears, like a chanabara in syrup.”
VIJAY: “At Dacca he is constantly talking about you. He is always eager to see you.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
“It is said in the Gita that if a man is respected and honoured by many, whether it be for his scholarship or his music or his oratory or anything else, then you may know for certain that he is endowed with a special divine power.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 10 🔻 (42 Verses)
