Thursday, August 5, 2021

Vibhaktam

avibhakta cha bhūtehu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam
bhūta-bharti cha taj jñeya grasihu prabhavihu cha

avibhaktamindivisiblechaalthoughbhūtehuamongst living beingsvibhaktamdividedivaapparentlychayetsthitamsituatedbhūta-bhartithe Sustainer of all beingschaalsotatthatjñeyamto be knowngrasihuthe Annihilatorprabhavihuthe Creatorchaand.

He is indivisible, yet He appears to be divided amongst living beings. Know the Supreme Entity to be the Sustainer, Annihilator, and Creator of all beings.

God’s personality includes His various energies.  All manifest and unmanifest objects are but expansions of His energy.  Thus, we can say He is all that exists.  Accordingly, Shreemad Bhagavatam states:

dravya karma cha kālaśh cha svabhāvo jīva eva cha

vāsudevāt paro brahman na chānyo ’rtho ’sti tattvata   .

The various aspects of creation—time, karma, the natures of individual living beings, and the material ingredients of creation—are all the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna Himself.  There is nothing in existence apart from Him.

God may appear to be divided amongst the objects of His creation, but since He is all that exists, He remains undivided as well.  For example, space may seem to be divided amongst the objects that it contains.  Yet, all objects are within the one entity called space, which manifested at the beginning of creation.  Again, the reflection of the sun in puddles of water appears divided, and yet the sun remains indivisible. 

Just as the ocean throws up waves and then absorbs them back into itself, similarly God creates the world, maintains it, and then absorbs it back into Himself.  Therefore, He may be equally seen as the Creator, the Maintainer, and the Destroyer of everything.

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