Verse 12.14

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

तावुभौ भूतसम्पृक्तौ महान् क्षेत्रज्ञ एव च ।
उच्चावचेषु भूतेषु स्थितं तं व्याप्य तिष्ठतः ॥ १४ ॥

tāvubhau bhūtasampṛktau mahān kṣetrajña eva ca |
uccāvaceṣu bhūteṣu sthitaṃ taṃ vyāpya tiṣṭhataḥ || 14 ||

Both of these, the ‘Great Principle’ and the ‘Conscious Being,’ united with the material substances, subsist in Him who resides in all things, pervading them all.—(14)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Manifold’— of various kinds and forms.

‘Things’— all entities.

‘Who resides, pervading’— all those things.

‘In him these two subsist’— The term ‘sthitaḥ’ is taken as a transitive verb, the root ‘sthā’ being capable of several denotations.

“Who is ho who resides pervading the manifold things?”

The Supremo Self, who is beyond the animate and inanimate world, of the nature of Highest Bliss, who is going to be described later on.

‘United to material substances’—i.e., the five substances.

‘The Great Principle’— described under Verse 13, as that ‘through which he experiences pleasures and pains.’

‘The Conscious Being’— described in Verse 12.

These two are said to ‘subsist’ in the Supreme Self, because the entire Universe subsists in It; every effect subsists in its cause; and it is on the basis of this that these two are said to ‘subsist’ in the Supreme Self. Says the revered Vyāsa—‘In this world there are two Puruṣas, the Perishable and the Imperishable; the Perishable one consists of all material substances, and the unchangeable entity is culled ‘Imperishable,’—Here the term ‘perishable’ stands for the entire phenomenal world; and ‘imperishable’ for the Original Cause, which is also spoken of as ‘Unchanging,’ as in its causal form, it does not perish even at Universal Dissolution. Or ‘perishable’ may stand for the Body, and ‘imperishable’ for the ‘Conscious Being’ (Kṣetrajna); the latter being called ‘Unchangeable,’ because till Final Liberation is attained, he retains his character of being the doer (of acts) and experiencer (of results). (Vyāsa goes on)—‘The Highest Puruṣa is different from these two, and is called the Supreme Self, who, being the infallible Lord, who pervades and sustains the three worlds’ (Bhagavadgītā, 15.16.17).—14

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Vyāpya.’—‘Pervade,’ (Govindarāja),—‘rest on’ (Kullūka);—‘Conceal through illusion’ (Nārāyaṇa).