Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 6

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

Sanskrit verse

यथाकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायुः सर्वत्रगो महान् ।
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय ॥

Transliteration

yathākāśasthito nityaṃ vāyuḥ sarvatrago mahān .
tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni matsthānītyupadhāraya ॥

Meaning

Just as the mighty wind, moving everywhere, always rests in space, know that in the same way all beings rest in Me.

Word meanings

यथा – just as
आकाशस्थितः – resting in space
नित्यम् – always
वायुः – the wind
सर्वत्रगः – moving everywhere
महान् – mighty
तथा – so
सर्वाणि – all
भूतानि – beings
मत्स्थानि – rest in Me
इति – thus
उपधारय – understand firmly

Anvaya (word order)

यथा सर्वत्रगः महान् वायुः नित्यम् आकाशस्थितः (अस्ति), तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानि इति उपधारय ।

Explanation

The previous two verses were subtle: beings rest in the Lord, and yet do not rest in Him. To make this graspable, Krishna offers a beautiful image, the wind in space. Wind is powerful; as a storm it uproots trees and races in every direction. Yet however far it travels, it never leaves space. It is always within the sky.

And space is entirely unaffected by the wind. When a gale blows, space does not shake; when the air is still, space does not become calmer. It simply gives room to the wind without being bound or altered by it. In just the same way, all beings, with all their movement, births, deaths and deeds, move within the Lord, while He remains untouched.

Shankara uses the image to emphasise the unattached nature of the Self: as space is free of contact, so is the Supreme. Ramanuja draws out another side: as wind cannot exist without space, so beings cannot exist for a moment, or move at all, without being upheld by the Lord’s will. Their very motion depends on Him.

The verb upadharaya is important: do not merely hear this, but hold it firmly in the mind. When it becomes settled conviction that I and the whole world are within God, fear dissolves, because there is nowhere we can fall outside Him.

Context

The mystery of verses 4 and 5, how beings relate to the Lord, is made concrete here by the analogy of wind and space. In the next verse Krishna explains how, at the end and start of cosmic cycles, beings merge into His prakriti and are sent forth again.

Life lesson

Wherever the wind blows it is still in the sky; wherever we are, we are still in God. Let this dissolve loneliness and fear. And, like space, learn to stay inwardly still while the storms of life pass through.

Key terms

Akasha: space, which holds all yet is touched by nothing
Sarvatraga: moving everywhere
Upadharaya: grasp firmly, hold in the mind