Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 42
Kṛṣṇa’s Impending Departure; Uddhava’s Surrender; King Yadu and the Avadhūta’s Twenty-Four Gurus
Beginnings
अन्तर्हितश्च स्थिरजङ्गमेषु ब्रह्मात्मभावेन समन्वयेन । व्याप्त्याव्यवच्छेदमसङ्गमात्मनो मुनिर्नभस्त्वं विततस्य भावयेत् ॥ ४२ ॥
antarhitaś ca sthira-jaṅgameṣu brahmātma-bhāvena samanvayena vyāptyāvyavacchedam asaṅgam ātmano munir nabhastvaṁ vitatasya bhāvayet
Le sage méditatif, même en vivant dans un corps matériel, doit se connaître comme âme pure dans la conscience de Brahman. Qu’il voie que l’âme pénètre toutes les formes de vie, mobiles et immobiles, et que la Personnalité Suprême de Dieu, en tant que Paramatma, est simultanément présente en tout comme l’Hôte intérieur. Tous deux se comprennent à l’image du ciel : il s’étend partout et tout repose en lui, sans se mêler à rien ni pouvoir être divisé.
Although air exists within the sky, the sky, or space, is different from air. Even in the absence of air, space or sky is present. All material objects are situated within space, or within the vast material sky, but the sky remains undivided and, although accommodating all objects, never actually mixes with anything. In the same way one can understand the situation of both the individual soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul is all-pervading, because there are innumerable jīvātmās, which enter within all things; yet, as confirmed in Vedic literature, each individual ātmā remains infinitesimal. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9) states:
FAQs
This verse teaches that the Self is like the sky—all-pervading, undivided, and untouched—though it seems “within” all beings; it remains unattached and unlimited.
King Yadu asked for the Avadhuta’s wisdom; the Avadhuta explains contemplations learned from nature, here using the sky as a meditation to realize the Self’s pervasion and detachment.
Practice seeing experiences and relationships without possessiveness—like space that holds everything yet clings to nothing—while remembering your deeper identity beyond changing roles and emotions.