Bhagavad Gita · 9.18 · Yoga through the King of Sciences·18 of 34
गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत्।प्रभवः प्रलयः स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम् ॥
gatir bhartā prabhuḥ sākṣhī nivāsaḥ śharaṇaṁ
suhṛit prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṁ nidhānaṁ bījam avyayam
Sanskrit recitation
How people reach for God · 9.11–9.25 · Teaching
Translation
I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasure-house, and the imperishable seed.
Meaning
I am the goal, the fruit of action. He who nourishes and supports is the huand. I am the witness of the good and evil actions done by the Jivas (individuals). I am the abode wherein all living beings dwell. I am the shelter or refuge for the distressed. I relieve the sufferings of those who take shelter under Me. I am the friend, i.e., I do good without expecting any return. I am the source of this universe. In Me the whole world is dissolved. I am the mainstay or the foundation of this world. I am the treasurehouse which living beings shall enjoy in the future. I am the imperishable see, i.e., the cause of the origin of all beings. Therefore, take shelter under My feet.
After Swami Sivananda
How people reach for God· 9.11–9.25→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 9.11Fools disregard Me, clad in human form, not knowing My higher Being as the great Lord of all beings.
- 9.12They are possessed of the deceitful nature of demons and undivine beings, filled with vain hopes, vain actions, and vain knowledge that is senseless.
- 9.13But the great souls, O Arjuna, partaking of My divine nature, worship Me with a single-minded devotion, knowing Me as the imperishable source of all beings.
- 9.14Always glorifying Me, striving, firm in their vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they worship Me with steadfast devotion.
- 9.15Others also, sacrificing with the wisdom-sacrifice, worship Me, the All-Faced, as one, distinct, and manifold.
- 9.16I am Kratu; I am Yajna; I am the offering to the manes; I am the medicinal herbs and all plants; I am the Mantra; I am also the ghee or melted butter; I am the fire; I am the oblation.
- 9.17I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions, and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (Om), and also the Rik, Sama, and Yajur Vedas.
9.18I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasure-house, and the imperishable seed.
- 9.19As the sun, I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also death, existence and non-existence, O Arjuna.
- 9.20The knowers of the three Vedas, the drinkers of Soma, purified of all sins, worshipping Me through sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven; they reach the holy world of the Lord of the gods and enjoy the divine pleasures of the gods in heaven.
- 9.21They, having enjoyed the vast heaven, enter the world of mortals when their merit is exhausted; thus abiding by the injunctions of the three (Vedas) and desiring objects of desires, they attain to the state of coming and going.
- 9.22For those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no one else, for those ever-united, I secure what they have not already possessed and preserve what they already possess.
- 9.23Even those devotees who, endowed with faith, worship other gods, worship Me alone, O Arjuna, but by the wrong method.
- 9.24For I alone am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in reality, and thus they return to this mortal world.
- 9.25The worshippers of the gods go to them; the ancestor-worshippers go to the manes; the worshippers of the deities who preside over the elements go to them; but My devotees come to Me.
Word-by-word→
- gatiḥ
- the supreme goal
- bhartā
- sustainer
- prabhuḥ
- master
- sākṣhī
- witness
- nivāsaḥ
- abode
- śharaṇam
- shelter
- su-hṛit
- friend
- prabhavaḥ
- the origin
- pralayaḥ
- dissolution
- sthānam
- store house
- nidhānam
- resting place
- bījam
- seed
- avyayam
- imperishable
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