न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् |
भूतभृन्न च भूतस्थो ममात्मा भूतभावन: || 5||
na cha mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśhya me yogam aiśhwaram
bhūta-bhṛin na cha bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ
na—never; cha—and; mat-sthāni—abide in Me; bhūtāni—all living beings; paśhya—behold; me—My; yogam aiśhwaram—divine energy; bhūta-bhṛit—the sustainer of all living beings; na—never; cha—yet; bhūta-sthaḥ—dwelling in; mama—My; ātmā—Self; bhūta-bhāvanaḥ—the Creator of all beings
Translation:
And yet, the living beings do not abide in Me. Behold the mystery of My divine energy! Although I am the Creator and Sustainer of all living beings, I am not influenced by them or by material nature.
Commentary:
There appears to be an apparent contradiction. In the previous verse, it was declared that all beings are in the Lord. Here it is stated that the beings also are not in Him. The contradiction is only apparent and not real. From the point of view of the ignorant, the world has an existence, as it is touched and confirmed by the senses. So it is said to exist in, and sustained by Paramatma. From the Advaitic plane, the world does not exist at all, in the same manner as water does not exist in the mirage. So it is said here that the beings also do not exist in Him. This is from the pure Advaitic point of view, where there is only one undifferentiated eternal Brahman, and nothing else. The Lord’s declaration means that Drisya the seen world does not exist in Him, or He in Drisya. The man who has awakended from the dream comes to know that he never existed in the dream nor the dream in him. It is nothing. The man who saw the snake in the rope, when he comes to know the form of the rope, knows that snake did not and does not exist. Thus, there are no beings in the Lord, nor He in them. What existed, exists, and shall exist is Paramatma alone. This is the sovereign yoga of the Lord. The cosmic illusion appears to exist but really does not exist. So the world while appearing to exist, does not exist. All this is Brahman and nothing else. This is the royal secret.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
Master: “There are various paths to reach God. Each view is a path. It is like reaching the Kali temple by different roads. But it must be said that some paths are clean and some dirty. It is good to travel on a clean path.
“Many views, many paths — and I have seen them all. But I don’t enjoy them any more; they all quarrel.
“No one else is here, and you are my own people. Let me tell you something. I have come to the final realisation that God is the Whole and I am a part of Him, that God is the Master and I am His servant. Furthermore, I think every now and then that He is I and I am He.”
The devotees listened to these words in deep silence. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
AMRITA: “Sir, how do you feel in samadhi?”
MASTER: “You may have heard that the cockroach, by intently meditating on the brahmara, is transformed into a brahmara. Do you know how I feel then? I feel like a fish released from a pot into the water of the Ganges.”
AMRITA: “Don’t you feel at that time even a trace of ego?”
MASTER: “Yes, generally a little of it remains. However hard you may rub a grain of gold against a grindstone, still a bit of it always remains. Or again, take the case of a big fire; the ego is like one of its sparks. In samadhi I lose outer consciousness completely; but God generally keeps a little trace of ego in me for the enjoyment of divine communion. Enjoyment is possible only when ‘I’ and ‘you’ remain.
“Again, sometimes God effaces even that trace of ‘I’. Then one experiences jada samadhi or nirvikalpa samadhi. That experience cannot be described. A salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean, but before it had gone far into the water it melted away. It became entirely one with the water of the ocean. Then who was to come back and tell the ocean’s depth?” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
On 19 March 1917, Holy Mother wrote to her disciple Manada Shankar Dasgupta: “If you have a keen desire to meditate on my form, do it. There is no difference between me and the Master. The only difference is between the two forms. The Master dwells inside my body.” (BG 9.4, BG 9.5)
On 13 April 1917, she wrote to Manada again: “The Master and I are one.” (Source: Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play)
When the Master fails to remove all thoughts from his mind, Tota helps him to attain nirvikalpa samadhi.
Tota tried to make the Master attain samadhi on that day with the help of various arguments and quotations from the scriptures. We heard from the Master that Tota was determined to transmit his whole life’s spiritual experiences to him, so that he could be rapidly absorbed into the nondual state. The Master said: “After initiating me into sannyasa, the Naked One began to teach me various established truths of Vedanta and asked me to withdraw my mind from all objects and dive into the Atman. But despite all my attempts, during meditation I could not cross the realm of name and form and bring my mind to the unconditioned state. I had no difficulty in withdrawing my mind from all objects except one: the all-too-familiar form of the Blissful Mother, radiant with Pure Consciousness, that appeared before me as a living reality and prevented me from passing beyond the realm of name and form. For more than three days this happened again and again when I tried to meditate according to the instructions of Vedanta. I almost lost hope of reaching nirvikalpa samadhi. I opened my eyes and told the Naked One: ‘No, it can’t be done. I cannot raise my mind to the unconditioned state and force it to be absorbed in the Atman.’ Irritated, the Naked One said sharply: ‘What do you mean — can’t be done? It must be done!’ Then he looked around the hut and found a bit of broken glass. He picked it up and stuck its needle-sharp point between my eyebrows and said, ‘Fix the mind here.’ I sat down to meditate again, firmly determined. As soon as the form of the Divine Mother appeared in my mind, I used my discrimination as a sword of knowledge and with it mentally cut that form in two. Then all distinctions disappeared from my mind, and it swiftly soared beyond the realm of name and form. I lost myself in samadhi.” (Source: Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play)
From a dualistic viewpoint as stated in verse 9.4, waves depend on the ocean (like a gold chain depends on gold and milk products depend on milk); the ocean does not depend on the waves. But from a monist point of view, as stated in verse 9.5, the question of wave abiding in the ocean or the ocean abiding in the wave does not arise because there is no wave or ocean. It is water only. Similarly, everything is a manifestation of the Spirit only (Gita 7.19).
From ‘Ashtavakra Gita‘ —
- As waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so the universe emanating from the Self is not different from It. (2.4)
- As cloth, when analyzed, is found to be nothing but thread, so this universe, when analyzed, is nothing but the Self. (2.5)
- Just as sugar generated in sugarcane juice is wholly pervaded by that juice, so the universe produced in Me is permeated by Me through and through. (2.6)
- Just as a jug dissolves into clay, a wave into water, or a bracelet into gold, so the universe which has emanated from me will dissolve into me. (2.10)
- In me, the limitless ocean, let the wave of the world rise or vanish of itself. I neither increase nor decrease thereby. (7.2)
- You alone appear as whatever you perceive. Do bracelets, armlets and anklets appear different from gold? (15.14)
Question: What is the sovereign yoga of the Lord?
Answer: While Paramatma seems to create and sustain all beings, really they do not exist in Him and He does not exist in them. This is the royal secret of this Yoga.
Question: In the perfect Advaitic state, where is the world?
Answer: In that state, the world does not exist. Brahman alone is.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9 🔻 (34 Verses)
