Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 5

Chapter 9 – Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ।
भूतभृन्न च भूतस्थो ममात्मा भूतभावनः ॥

Transliteration

na ca matsthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogamaiśvaram .
bhūtabhṛnna ca bhūtastho mamātmā bhūtabhāvanaḥ ॥

Meaning

And yet beings do not truly abide in Me: behold My divine yoga! Though I sustain all beings and bring them into existence, My Self does not dwell in them.

Word meanings

न – not
च – and
मत्स्थानि – abiding in Me
भूतानि – beings
पश्य – behold
मे – My
योगम् – yoga, mystic power
ऐश्वरम् – divine, sovereign
भूतभृत् – supporter of beings
न – not
च – and
भूतस्थः – dwelling in beings
मम – My
आत्मा – Self
भूतभावनः – the one who brings beings into being

Anvaya (word order)

भूतानि च मत्स्थानि न; मे ऐश्वरं योगं पश्य — मम आत्मा भूतभृत् भूतभावनः (अपि) भूतस्थः न च ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna said that all beings abide in Him. Now He refines that very statement: ‘And yet beings do not abide in Me.’ This is not a contradiction but a deeper layer of truth. Whatever ‘abides in’ something is in contact with it; but the Supreme is utterly unattached, and nothing clings to Him. So Krishna says, ‘Behold My sovereign yoga’, the inconceivable power by which He holds everything without being touched by anything.

Shankara reads this from the standpoint of ultimate truth. The snake seen in a rope does not really reside in the rope; it is only a misperception. In the same way, from the viewpoint of ignorance beings seem to rest in the Lord, but from the viewpoint of reality the Lord alone is. Ramanuja understands it differently: beings are not held in God the way water is held in a pot, by physical containment; they are sustained by His will, effortlessly, with no strain on Him at all.

He is bhuta-bhrit, the sustainer of beings, and bhuta-bhavana, their origin. Yet He is na bhuta-sthah, not lodged in them. An ordinary soul identifies with its body and is swept up by its pleasures and pains. The Lord supports every body in the cosmos yet is affected by none. The sun shines on mud without being muddied.

This is aishvara yoga: to pervade all, sustain all, produce all, and remain untouched by all. Krishna does not say ‘hear’ but pashya, ‘behold’. He invites Arjuna to contemplate this truth until it becomes inner vision rather than mere doctrine.

Context

Verse 4 said that beings abide in the Lord but He does not abide in them. Here that idea is refined to reveal His divine yoga. In the next verse Krishna gives the illustration of the wind moving within space to make the relationship easier to grasp.

Life lesson

The Lord sustains everything without being entangled by anything. We too can fulfil every duty towards family and work while staying inwardly free and calm. To live this way is to reflect a little of the divine nature in our own lives.

Key terms

Aishvara yoga: the Lord’s sovereign, inconceivable power
Bhuta-bhrit: sustainer of all beings
Bhuta-bhavana: source and generator of beings
Bhuta-stha: lodged in or bound to beings