If Brahman pervades everything yet is conditioned by nothing, what practical difference does it make whether I frame my daily actions as 'done in Brahman' or 'done for Brahman' — and does that framing shift my psychology in ways that matter?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

The verse says beings rest in Kṛṣṇa but Kṛṣṇa does not rest in beings — is this an asymmetric relationship analogous to a program running on hardware that the program cannot modify? What does that say about the limits of creaturely agency?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja both cite Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad's antaryāmin passage for this verse but draw opposite conclusions (identity vs. inner-governorship) — what in the Sanskrit grammar or semantic field of 'avasthita' enables both readings to be simultaneously valid?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

If the cosmos is 'mat-stha' (resting in the Lord) while the Lord is avyakta (unmanifest), does this make inquiry into ultimate reality structurally more like dark-matter physics than ordinary empiricism — something whose effects are everywhere but whose nature is never directly observed?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

Vallabha reads mat-stha as 'protected abiding in prasāda' rather than mere metaphysical location — in what circumstances in a practitioner's life would the felt difference between these two readings become experientially significant?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

Madhusūdana's rope-serpent analogy maps the verse onto vivartavāda (appearance-without-causal-reality) — but Rāmānuja explicitly rejects this for pariṇāmavāda (real transformation) — which empirical observations about causation or consciousness would count as evidence for either school's position?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

Given that all six schools agree that 'beings rest in the Lord' while disagreeing radically on what that resting means, is there a minimal experiential claim — something like 'the ground of my existence is not exhausted by what I can observe of myself' — that survives all six readings and could serve as a school-neutral contemplative entry point?

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them. See seven-school commentary at https://gita.ekrasworks.com/gita/9/4.

BG 9.4 — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 9.4Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना ।

मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥

mayā tatam idaṃ sarvaṃ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṃ teṣv avasthitaḥ

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them.

ekras · bhāṣya

By Me, in My avyakta-murti, all this jagat is pervaded. All beings are in Me; I am not in them. The verse states a precise asymmetry. Pervasion runs in one direction; containment runs in one direction; but the apparent reciprocity that one might infer from those two — that Krishna abides in the beings as they abide in him — is denied.

Shankara reads avyakta-murti as the transcendent nature beyond all sense-contact.

Krishna pervades the cosmos as space pervades a vessel without being the vessel. All beings — from Brahma to a blade of grass — rest in Krishna as their innermost atman, for nothing can function in transactional reality without depending on the substrate. But Krishna is not in them; the substrate does not become its modifications.

Madhusudana reads the verse's two halves as two levels of a non-dual ontology. The cosmos is mat-ajnana-kalpita — projected by superimposition upon Krishna as adhishthana, the substratum.

Krishna pervades it as sat-rupa and sphurana-rupa — as being and as luminous self-manifestation — exactly as a rope-fragment underlies the imagined snake. Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani names the dependence; na cha aham teshu avasthitah names that the dependence does not contaminate the substrate.

Ramanuja reads avyakta-murti as the antaryamin whose svarupa remains aprakashita — unmanifest — to those it indwells, just as the Brihadaranyaka declares: he who stands within the earth yet is unknown by the earth. The cosmos of chit and achit is pervaded by Krishna in this register.

Madhva reads the verse as the pivot from indirect to aparoksha knowledge. The previous verse named pratyaksha-avagama as the fruit; here its content is declared. The natural question — why then is Krishna not seen? — is answered by avyakta-murti: he is unmanifest to ordinary perception, manifest to the seeker.

Vallabha locates avyakta in Krishna as kala-atma, the antaryamin whose mahima-rupa remains beyond bahya-maryada while constituting adhyatma-svarupa of every creature.

Shridhara anchors the verse in the shruti: tat srishtva tat eva anupravishat — having created it, He entered into it.

Context

where

Chapter 9 · Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 9.3

Those who have no faith in this teaching never reach Me, and keep turning on the road of death and rebirth.

What's going on

All of this universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form; all beings abide in Me, yet I do not abide in them.

Sūtras through this verse · hub (61)

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

9.1The royal secret of the second ṣaṭka.───→here9.4───→10.1His glory becomes the chapter's evidence.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

5.16Knowledge dispels what mā śucaḥ will close.───→here9.4───→9.24The receiver of all rites is named one verse.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

7.17The wise lover is my own dearest one.───→here9.4───→9.22I carry getting and keeping for them.

show all 61

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartstation · anchor

───→here9.4───→

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartstation

───→here9.4───→

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

6.1Renouncer and yogi together───→here9.4───→9.22Yogakshema as offering returned

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

6.1The fruit-unattached one is yogi and renouncer.───→here9.4───→9.22The undivided ones the Lord himself sustains.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

7.16The lover-knower stands at the top of the four.───→here9.4───→9.22Constant thought of Me is self-contemplation itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

9.1I praise Kāśirāja, king among gurus.───→here9.4───→10.1Royal knowledge, royal secret, Kāśirāja.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

6.46The yogi with mind-stilled stands above mere knowing.───→here9.4───→9.22The undivided devotee is already complete.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)between

7.30Hold the Lord through every layer of life.───→here9.4───→9.34Bind your mind to Me, the only safe tie.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

6.43Practice resumes; it never restarts.───→here9.4───→9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.───→here9.4───→9.22For the undivided I personally provide.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

6.32Sees others' pain and joy as his own.───→here9.4───→9.29I am equal to all; lovers live in Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

7.15The demonic never come near to Me.───→here9.4───→9.12Vain hopes, vain acts, their own punishment.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanapproach

───→here9.4───→9.22I myself am the Lord, the Self of all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicapproach

───→here9.4───→9.13Great souls take refuge in divine nature.

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

'Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina.' All this universe is pervaded bystation · station 1/6

───→here9.4───→

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)station

───→here9.4───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

6.11Mudra and posture. 'Shuchau deshe pratishthapya sthiram asanam atmanah.' Establi───→here9.4───→9.26Puja and havan. 'Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati.' Whoev

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

5.18Ring finger. Samadrishti. 'Vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini, shuni ch───→here9.4───→9.22Pinky finger. Shraddha, faith. Gaurav lands shraddha with the Sushma Swaraj six-

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

4.8'Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam, dharma-samsthapana-arthaya sambh───→here9.4───→9.27Dharma-as-offering pillar. 'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Gau

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidbetween

6.46'Tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah, karmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasm───→here9.4───→9.27'Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat.' Bhakti-inside-karma. Whatever

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

6.1The renouncer is the one who acts for Me.───→here9.4───→9.27Whatever you do, do it as offering.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

8.14Easily reached by unbroken recollection.───→here9.4───→9.22For the one-pointed, I personally provide.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

7.14Surrender alone crosses the māyā.───→here9.4───→9.32Even the lowest birth reaches Me through this.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.───→here9.4───→9.34Set toward Me, the seeker's whole posture.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.───→here9.4───→9.22For the undivided, I carry it Myself.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.───→here9.4───→9.24Receiver of every rite is the indweller alone.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

4.11'Yathā' is open; the verb is the gate.───→here9.4───→9.22Yoga-kṣemam: the Lord's work, not the seeker's caste.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.───→here9.4───→9.34Refuge is not bondage by another name.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

9.1Chapter 7's residue of wonder forces 9's disclosure.───→here9.4───→11.54The saguṇa-bhakta privileged ahead of 12.1.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

7.22The fruits of those rites are ordained by Me.───→here9.4───→9.20Soma-drinking heaven- seekers worship Me too.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awaybetween

7.21Whichever form I steady that faith.───→here9.4───→9.30Even fallen conduct, love makes pure.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

8.14Mind on no other, constantly remembers Me.───→here9.4───→9.13Great souls turn no mind to any other.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugebetween

4.11I meet each one as that one approaches.───→here9.4───→9.29Even to all — yet near to those who turn.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

9.1The Lord is reached by pure devotion.───→here9.4───→12.1Form or formless: which is the better road?

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminapproach

───→here9.4───→10.7Knowing the cases steadies the yoga.

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralexit

8.6'Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam.' Whatever state of being one remembers at the last ───→here9.4───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingexit

8.7Without a clean mind, steady remembrance fails.───→here9.4───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitexit

8.14Remembrance comes only from constant daily practice.───→here9.4───→

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlystation

───→here9.4───→

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.───→here9.4───→9.22Grace alone — never calculation of merit.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

9.1Single-verse prelude names the secret of secrets.───→here9.4───→13.2Architectural claim: the Lord's own bhāṣya.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

7.1The play-Person of every form opens chapter 7.───→here9.4───→9.32The unsheltered run to their cowherd-Lord.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.───→here9.4───→9.22The Bhāgavata block grounds grace-only doctrine.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalD

Avatāra: appearance without departurestation

───→here9.4───→

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

7.14Cross the maya───→here9.4───→9.22Yogakshema

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

7.19After many births───→here9.4───→9.13Mahātmas of divine nature

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

2.41Single-pointed buddhi───→here9.4───→9.22Yogakshema for the undivided

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbabetween · other

5.14Two tiers of rulership───→here9.4───→9.9Like one detached, not actually

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-rulebetween

8.3The 'imperishable Brahman' is the supreme person.───→here9.4───→9.16The sacrifice itself is named as Viṣṇu.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksbetween

5.14The Lord rules the modes; the soul rules the body.───→here9.4───→9.9He sits like one detached, not actually detached.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.───→here9.4───→9.22For the undivided, I personally provide.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalC

Vision is the structural centerapproach

───→here9.4───→10.1Listen one more time — clearer before the pivot.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionapproach

───→here9.4───→9.22Consciousness tending its own self-knowing modes.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerapproach

───→here9.4───→11.8The eye is given; seeing is grace.

Ekrasmodernmeditation

Meditation — the dhyāna tourexit · v2

8.12Om at the close───→here9.4───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingbetween

7.30The cosmic and the rite-Lord are one Lord, known together.───→here9.4───→9.13The great know Me as beginning of beings.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.───→here9.4───→9.22For those who see only Me I myself bear all need.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

7.23Their fruit is finite; His own is the goal.───→here9.4───→9.7Even pralaya keeps jīva-tāratamya.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 16 occurrences)

भूतानि bhūta — being, creature; element; past, gone · nominative neuter plural noun
अवस्थितः ava-√sthā — state, condition, situation · nominative masculine singular participle noun

show all 13

मया·मद्·अहम् mad ×3 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · instrumental singular noun / compound / nominative singular noun
सर्वम्·सर्व sarva ×2 — all, entire · nominative neuter singular noun / compound
ततम् √tan — to extend, stretch, spread (verbal root) · nominative neuter singular participle noun
इदम् idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative neuter singular noun
जगत् jagant — the world, the moving (universe) · nominative neuter singular noun
अव्यक्त avyakta — unmanifest (a- + vyakta past-pple. 'manifest', from vi-√añj) · compound · also at 1.1, 2.25, 2.28, 7.24, 8.18, 8.21 +4
मूर्तिना mūrti — form, embodiment, image · instrumental masculine singular noun
स्थानि stha — standing, situated (suffix) · nominative neuter plural noun
न na — not (negation particle)
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
तेषु tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · locative neuter plural noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Brahman pervades everything yet is conditioned by nothing, what practical difference does it make whether I frame my daily actions as 'done in Brahman' or 'done for Brahman' — and does that framing shift my psychology in ways that matter?
02The verse says beings rest in Kṛṣṇa but Kṛṣṇa does not rest in beings — is this an asymmetric relationship analogous to a program running on hardware that the program cannot modify? What does that say about the limits of creaturely agency?

show all 7

03Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja both cite Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad's antaryāmin passage for this verse but draw opposite conclusions (identity vs. inner-governorship) — what in the Sanskrit grammar or semantic field of 'avasthita' enables both readings to be simultaneously valid?
04If the cosmos is 'mat-stha' (resting in the Lord) while the Lord is avyakta (unmanifest), does this make inquiry into ultimate reality structurally more like dark-matter physics than ordinary empiricism — something whose effects are everywhere but whose nature is never directly observed?
05Vallabha reads mat-stha as 'protected abiding in prasāda' rather than mere metaphysical location — in what circumstances in a practitioner's life would the felt difference between these two readings become experientially significant?
06Madhusūdana's rope-serpent analogy maps the verse onto vivartavāda (appearance-without-causal-reality) — but Rāmānuja explicitly rejects this for pariṇāmavāda (real transformation) — which empirical observations about causation or consciousness would count as evidence for either school's position?
07Given that all six schools agree that 'beings rest in the Lord' while disagreeing radically on what that resting means, is there a minimal experiential claim — something like 'the ground of my existence is not exhausted by what I can observe of myself' — that survives all six readings and could serve as a school-neutral contemplative entry point?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When frustration arises at work or in a relationship, pause and locate the asaṅga (non-attachment) quality of ākāśa: you, as witnessing awareness, are not actually inside the friction — the friction appears within you. Treat the next difficult meeting as a practice of holding the witness position without needing the situation to resolve before you feel whole.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In service to another person — caring for a parent, mentoring a student, doing organizational work — consciously locate the act within the śeṣa-śeṣin frame: you are a purposive limb of a larger whole whose governance (niyamana) you do not control. This shifts service from self-sacrifice to kainkarya (joyful participation), reducing the resentment that comes from expecting reciprocal dependence.

show all 6

Dvaita

When spiritual practice feels dry or when doubt arises about whether personal effort matters, Madhva's tāratamya (hierarchy) is stabilizing rather than diminishing: the jīva's distinctness from Hari is permanent and honored — you are not trying to dissolve into something, but to know and serve what is genuinely other. Let the otherness of Hari be a source of sustained attention rather than an obstacle.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's prasāda-frame makes ordinary enjoyment — a meal, a piece of music, a beautiful view — available as direct contact with Kṛṣṇa's svecchā rather than a distraction from it. The practice: receive each pleasure as an uninstructed gift (not earned, not caused by you) and let the unreasonable generosity of it register before you consume or move on. This is puṣṭi-sādhanā (nourishment-discipline) in real time.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's kāraṇa-bhūta framing supports a contemplative exercise in causation: for any situation or object in your life today, trace it back one causal layer, then another — not as intellectual analysis but as a felt sense that 'everything I see is an effect that has never fully left its cause.' The purpose is not to reach a terminus but to loosen the assumption that the present moment is self-sufficient and self-explanatory.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's rope-serpent analogy can be used when fear or anxiety reaches a physical level: the anxiety is real as appearance and should not be bypassed, but the substratum on which it appears — your capacity for consciousness itself — is not harmed by it. In practice: stay with the somatic reality of the anxiety (do not sublimate) while simultaneously noticing that the space in which the sensation arises is not itself contracted. This is advaya-caitanya (non-dual awareness) as a daily regulation tool, not a bypass.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 9, Verse 4: Krishna to Arjuna — Rāja-Vidyā-Rāja-Guhya-Yoga