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अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम्।भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च।।13.17।।

avibhaktaṁ cha bhūteṣhu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam bhūta-bhartṛi cha taj jñeyaṁ grasiṣhṇu prabhaviṣhṇu cha

Sanskrit Chant Recitation
Chapter 13, Verse 17
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Scripture Translation Room

Sanskrit to English Translation

Translator:
Undivided yet, It exists as if divided in beings; It is to be known as the supporter of beings; It devours and It generates.

A Reading - Rantideb

Why: undivided, yet existing as if divided among beings, to be known as the sustainer, creator, and destroyer of beings, again holding two seemingly contradictory descriptions, undivided unity and apparent division, together without resolving them into one simpler claim.

In life: your sense of connection to other people and your sense of being a genuinely separate individual aren't actually as contradictory as they can feel, both are simultaneously true in a way that resists tidy resolution.

Teaching: stop trying to fully resolve the tension between feeling deeply connected to others and feeling genuinely separate and individual, both are apparently true at once, and holding that tension unresolved may be more accurate than forcing a resolution either way.

avibhaktamindivisible
chaalthough
bhūteṣhuamongst living beings
vibhaktamdivided
ivaapparently
chayet
sthitamsituated
bhūta-bhartṛithe sustainer of all beings
chaalso
tatthat
jñeyamto be known
grasiṣhṇuthe annihilator
prabhaviṣhṇuthe creator
chaand

Deep Classical Commentary (Bhashya)

Author:
13.17 अविभक्तम् undivided? च and? भूतेषु in beings? विभक्तम् divided? इव as if? च and? स्थितम् existing? भूतभर्तृ the supporter of beings? च and? तत् That ज्ञेयम् to be known? ग्रसिष्णु devouring? प्रभविष्णु generating? च and.Commentary Brahman must be regarded as That which supports? swallows up and also creates all beings? in the three forms of Brahma who creates the world of names anf forms? Vishnu who preserves or sustains? and Rudra who destroys. It is undivided in the various bodies. It is like ether. It is allpervding like space (Akasa). It is indivisible and the One? but It seems to divide Itself in forms and appears as all the separate existing things and beings. It is essentially unbroken. Yet? It is? as it were? divided among all beings.It devours this world during the cosmic dissolution. It generates it at the time of the origin of the next age. It supports all beings during the period of sustenance of this world.Just as fire is hidden in the wood? so also Brahman is hidden in all bodies. Just as the one space appears to be different through the limiting adjuncts (pot? house? etc.) so also the one indivisible Brahman appears to be different through the limiting adjuncts (the body? etc.). (Cf.XVIII.20)An objector says The knowable Brahman? the Knower of the field? is allpervading. It exists everywhere and yet It is not perceived. Therefore It must be of the nature of darkness or Tamas.The answer is No. It cannot be.What? then It is the Light of Lights.