Shloka 9
Adhyāya 51: Kṛṣṇa’s Leave-Taking and Departure for Dvārakā (द्वारकागमनानुमति)
आजीवं सर्वभूतानां सर्वप्राणभूतां गति: । एतद् ब्रह्मवनं नित्यं तस्समिं श्वरति क्षेत्रवित्,यह जगत् एक ब्रह्मवन है। अव्यक्त प्रकृति इसका आदि है। पाँच महाभूत, दस इन्द्रियाँ और एक मन--इन सोलह विशेषोंतक इसका विस्तार है। यह चराचर प्राणियोंसे भरा हुआ है। सूर्य और चन्द्रमा आदिके प्रकाशसे प्रकाशित है। ग्रह और नक्षत्रोंसे सुशोभित है। नदियों और पर्वतोंके समूहसे सब ओर विभूषित है। नाना प्रकारके जलसे सदा ही अलंकृत है। यही सम्पूर्ण भूतोंका जीवन और सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंकी गति है। इस ब्रह्मवनमें क्षेत्रज्ञ विचरण करता है
ājīvaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ sarvaprāṇabhūtāṁ gatiḥ | etad brahmavanaṁ nityaṁ tasmin śarati kṣetrajñaḥ ||
Vāyu-deva said: “This is the very livelihood of all beings and the ultimate course of all that lives. This eternal universe is a ‘forest of Brahman’; within it the Knower of the Field (the conscious Self) moves about. Thus one should see the world as a vast, ordered whole sustained by the unmanifest source and pervaded by consciousness—so that attachment and fear give way to discernment.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The world is portrayed as an eternal ‘forest of Brahman’ that sustains all life; within it the kṣetrajña (conscious Self) moves as the witness-knower. The ethical thrust is toward discernment: recognize the sustaining order of existence and the presence of consciousness, reducing possessiveness and fear.
Vāyu-deva is speaking and summarizing a metaphysical vision: the cosmos (described in the surrounding passage as arising from the unmanifest prakṛti and expanding through elements, senses, and mind) is the support and destination of living beings, while the kṣetrajña traverses it as the inner knower.