Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 6 (BG 9.6) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

9.6 यथा as? आकाशस्थितः rests in the Akasa? नित्यम् always? वायुः the air? सर्वत्रगः moving everywhere? महान् great? तथा so? सर्वाणि all? भूतानि beings? मत्स्थानि rest in Me? इति thus? उपधारय know.Commentary The Lord gives a beautiful illustration or simile in this verse to explain what He has said in the previous two verses. Just as the wind ever rests in the ether (space) without any contact or attachment? so also all beings and objects rest in Brahman without any attachment or contact at all. These objects cannot produce any effect on It.What sort of relationship is there between Brahman and the objects of this universe Is it Samyoga? Samavaya or Tadatmya Sambandha The relationship of the stick with the drum is Samyaoga Sambandha. Let us assume that there is such a Sambandha (relationship or connection). There cannot be connection between all the parts because Brahman is infinite and the elements are finite. You may say that there is connection of the Ekadesa type. This is also not possible? because there can be such relationship only between objects which possess members or parts like the tree and monkey. (Ekadesa is partial). Brahman has no parts.If you say that there is Samavaya Sambandha between Brahman and the objects or the elements? this is also not possible. The relationship between the attribute and the possessors of that attribute is called Samavaya Sambandha. The relationship between an individual Brahmin and the whole Brahmin caste is also Samavaya Sambandha. The relationship between hand and man? between the leg and the man is also Samavaya Sambandha. Such relationship does not exist between Brahman and the objects or the elements.The third kind of relationship? viz.? Tadatmya Sambandha is seen to exist between milk and water? fire and the iron ball. Milk shares its alities of sweetness and whiteness with water. Fire shares its alities of brilliance? heat and redness with the hot iron ball. This too is not possible between Brahman and the objects or the elements? because Brahman is ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute and allfull and perfect whereas the elements are insentient? finite and painful. How can they with ite contrary alities have Tadatmya Sambandha with BrahmanTherefore it can be admitted that the elemtns have only got Kalpita Sambandha (superimposition) with Brahman. That object which is superimposed on the substratum or support exists in name only. It does not exist in reality. Brahman is the support or the substratum for this world of names and forms. World here includes all beings and their three kinds of bodies (physical? mental and causal). Therefore? the elements or the beings in this world are not really rooted in Brahman. They do not really dwell in Brahman. It is all in name only.Vayu also means Sutratman or Hiranyagarbha. Bhuta also means the individual consciousness. Just as the ether in the pot is not distinct from the universal ether before the origin and after the destruction of the pot and even when the pot exists? and it is of the nature of the universal soul is of the nature of Brahman during the three periods of time? past? present and future.Just as all efects exist in a state of nondifference in their material cause before they appear? during their period of existence and after their destruction? so also the individual souls are not different from Brahman before the origin of the various limiting adjuncts like mind? intellect? etc.?,during the period of their existence and after their destruction.

# BG 9.6 — The Divine Illustration Confronted with this profound mystery, the bewildered Prince Arjuna receives from Lord Sri Krishna a beautiful and luminous illustration to aid his understanding. How difficult it is to conceive of that which pervades everywhere—that which sustains all existence within itself, and yet remains untouched and unbound by the limitations of all things! The ordinary human intellect cannot easily soar to such heights of knowledge. For a disciple whose understanding is thus constrained, a most beautiful and compelling example is offered here as a support and refuge—through which, by elevating oneself, one may look beyond one's own boundaries and behold the infinite expanse of ultimate reality. The gross can never confine the subtle. As a poet has sung: stone walls do not make a prison, for even when a captive's body is confined there, his thoughts remain forever free to reach his friends and loved ones—unbound and liberated. The crude stone walls cannot restrain the flight of his subtle thoughts. Once this principle is truly grasped, this illustration becomes profoundly expressive, revealing its deeper meanings. The flowing of air, its swirling motion, its rapid circulation as a whirlwind—all of this occurs within space. Space sustains all of these and pervades them everywhere, yet they in no way limit space. Even a seeker of ordinary intellectual capacity, if he contemplates this illustration, can understand and define the true relationship between the Self and the not-self. The Real is the foundation of the unreal. Countless beings, born of false identification, dwell eternally within the Real, yet appear to live lives of pleasure and pain, suffering and sorrow. Yet the unreal can never limit or taint the Real. The movement of air brings no motion to space; space remains free from all the qualities and characteristics of air. Compared to the all-pervading space within which countless planets, stars, and constellations revolve at immeasurable speeds, this atmosphere and its disturbances extend only a few miles above the earth's surface. Within the boundless vastness of infinite Reality, the realm of transformation of the false world born of ignorance is but a negligible region. And even there, the relationship between the Real and the unreal remains what it is between the restless wind and infinite space. This verse is not merely for describing truth through words. However true the commentaries of interpreters may be, every sincere seeker must contemplate and reflect upon their meaning for oneself.