Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 371

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-11 Viśvarūpa Darśana Yogaḥ

kasmācca te na nameran mahātman garīyase brahmaṇo’pyādikartre | ananta deveśa jagan-nivāsa tvam akṣaraṃ sadasat tatparaṃ yat || 37 || 37. And why should they not, O Mahātman, bow down to You who are Great One, being the first Creator, even of Brahma? O Infinite One, Lord of gods, O You who have the universe for Your abode! You are the imperishable individual Self, the existent and the non-existent, and that which is beyond both. Commentary O Boundless One, O God of the gods, O You who have the universe for Your dwelling place! You are Akṣara — ‘that which does not perish’ — here it refers to the principle of individual Self (jivātman); for the individual Self does not perish as established in Vedic passages:— ‘The intelligent Self is not born, nor dies’ . You alone are ‘the existent and the non-existent’ — the Principle of Material Nature (Prakrti), in its condition as effect and cause are denoted by the terms ‘Sat’ (existent) and ‘Asat’ (non-existent). The state of effect denoted by the term ‘Sat’, is the state of diversification by names and forms. The causal state denoted by the term ‘Asat’, is the state incapable of such divisions. ‘That which is beyond both’— that which is beyond Prakrti and the individual Selves associated with the Prakrti, namely, the principle of liberated Selves who are different from those bound by Prakrti. You alone are that also.