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BG 9.4 — 9.4 All this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect; all beings exist in Me, but I do not dwell in them.
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मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना |
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ||९-४||

mayā tatamidaṃ sarvaṃ jagadavyaktamūrtinā . matsthāni sarvabhūtāni na cāhaṃ teṣvavasthitaḥ ||9-4||


9.4 All this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect; all beings exist in Me, but I do not dwell in them.

Word-by-word meanings

9.4 मया by Me? ततम् pervaded? इदम् this? सर्वम् all? जगत् world? अव्यक्तमूर्तिना by the unmanifested form? मत्स्थानि exist in Me? सर्वभूतानि all beings? न not? च and? अहम् I? तेषु in them? अवस्थितः placed.Commentary Avyaktamurti is Para Brahman or the Supreme Unmanifested Being invisible to the senses but cognisable through intuition. All beings from Brahma? the Creator? down to the blade of grass or an ant? dwell in the transcendental Para Brahman. They have no independent existence they exist

Commentaries

Non-dualism. The individual self and Brahman are one. The world is appearance (maya). Liberation through knowledge.

Sri Shankaracharya

9.4 Idam, this; sarvam, whole; jagat, world; is tatam, pervaded; maya, by Me; through the supreme nature, that I have, avyakta-murtina, in My unmanifest form, in that form in which My nature is not manifest, i.e. in My form which is beyond the range of the organs. Sarva-bhutani, all beings, from Brahma to a clump of grass; matsthani, exist in Me, are established in Me in that unmanifest form. For, no created thing that is bereft of the Self (i.e. of Reality) can be conceived of as an object of practical use. Therefore, being possessed of their reality through Me who am their Self, they exist in Me. Hence they are said to be established in Me. I Myself am the Self of those created things. Conseently, it appears to people of little understanding that I dwell in them. Hence I say: Na ca aham, but I am not; avasthitah, contained; tesu, in them, in the created things. Since unlike gross objects I am not in contact with anything, therefore I am certainly the inmost core even of space. For, a thing that has no contact with anything cannot exist like something contained in a receptacle. For this very reason that I am not in contact with anyting-

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Swami Gambirananda

9.4 This whole world is prevaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I am not contained in them!

This interpretation draws on the Advaita tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

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