Shloka 9
Manvantara Enumerations Begin: Svāyambhuva’s Austerity, Yajñapati’s Protection, and the Avatāras up to Hari
Gajendra Prelude
मनुरुवाच येन चेतयते विश्वं विश्वं चेतयते न यम् । यो जागर्ति शयानेऽस्मिन्नायं तं वेद वेद स: ॥ ९ ॥
śrī-manur uvāca yena cetayate viśvaṁ viśvaṁ cetayate na yam yo jāgarti śayāne ’smin nāyaṁ taṁ veda veda saḥ
Manu said: He by whom the universe is made conscious is the Supreme Living Being; the world does not create Him. When all is silent and asleep, He remains awake as the Witness. The jīva does not know Him, yet He knows everything.
Here is a distinction between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām ( Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). According to the Vedic version, the Lord is the supreme eternal, the supreme living being. The difference between the Supreme Being and the ordinary living being is that when this material world is annihilated, all the living entities remain silent in oblivion, in a dreaming or unconscious condition, whereas the Supreme Being stays awake as the witness of everything. This material world is created, it stays for some time, and then it is annihilated. Throughout these changes, however, the Supreme Being remains awake. In the material condition of all living entities, there are three stages of dreaming. When the material world is awake and put in working order, this is a kind of dream, a waking dream. When the living entities go to sleep, they dream again. And when unconscious at the time of annihilation, when this material world is unmanifested, they enter another stage of dreaming. At any stage in the material world, therefore, they are all dreaming. In the spiritual world, however, everything is awake.
FAQs
This verse teaches that the universe becomes conscious only because the Supreme Lord empowers it; the world cannot illuminate Him, for He is the original Knower behind all knowing.
Manu contrasts the Lord’s ever-alert, all-knowing nature with the conditioned soul’s ignorance—especially in cosmic or spiritual “sleep,” when beings forget their true self and God.
Practice remembering the Supreme as the inner witness (Paramātmā) through prayer, japa, and mindful living—so awareness is guided by the Knower, not by the changing world.