(From the discourses of Pujya Sri Swamiji)

Compiled by Swami Datta Pada Renu

"I am Kratu, I am the sacrifice, I am Svadha, I am the medicinal herb, I am Mantra, Myself the ghee, I am fire and the offering". (16-IX)

In this and the following few verses, the universality of the Lord is described by way of a few illustrations.

Everything in this universe is the Lord Himself. There is nothing outside Him. Even rituals, sacrifices and ceremonials and selfless acts are the expressions of the divine will that is all pervading. Therefore the Lord says that He is Kratu (a Vedic rite), He is Yajna (sacrifice or worship enjoined in the Smriti). He is Svadha (the food offered to the manes). He is Aushadha (all vegetable and medicinal herbs). He is the Mantra (the chant with which the oblation is offered). He is Ajya (articles of oblation) and He is the fire into which the offering is offered.

"I am the father of this world, the mother, the sustainer and the grandsire, I am the knowledge, the purifier, the syllable "AUM" and also the Rik, the Saaman and the Yajus" (18-IX).

The Lord, the Supreme Being, is the mother and father of this world, because it is the Lord who inspires the Prakriti and makes it active to give rise to this entire created universe. He is also its grandsire, because it is from His unconditional essence both Prakriti (nature) and Purusha (spirit) have come into existence. As He sustains by awarding to the living beings the fruits of their actions, He is called ‘Dhaata’(sustainer). He is Vedya (the knowable), because there is only one object worthy to be known and that is the Lord, the Supreme Being or Self, after knowing which nothing else remains to be known.

The Lord Himself is the syllable ‘Aum’ which contains the essence of all the Vedas. There are three letters in this sacred syllable, viz., ‘a’, ‘u’, ‘m’, indicating the origin, maintenance and dissolution of the whole universe. Whatever is created, whatever is maintained and whatever is destroyed are all forms of the Lord. He is also the sacred Vedas, the Rig, the Yajus and the Saaman. Moreover, "I am the goal, the sustainer, the Lord, the witness, the Abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the Existence, the treasure-house and the seed imperishable" (18-IX).

The Lord is the goal (gati) as everyone has to reach Him ultimately. As all are protected by Him, He is the sustainer (Bharta). He is the Lord or Master (Prabhu) of all and everything. He is the witness (Sakshi) of all that is done or not done by creatures. He is the abode (Nivasa) where creatures live. He is the refuge(sharanam) of all as He removes the sufferings of the afflicted who take refuge in Him. As He is the benefactor of all, He is the friend (Suhrit) of all. He is the origin (Prabhava) and the dissolution (Pralaya) of the world as it is in Him the world is dissolved.

He is the treasure-house of fruits which human beings reap in future. He is the imperishable seed (Avyayam Beejam) of the world. The seed is imperishable in the sense the continuity of the seed never ends as creation is continuous. The Lord is also called the imperishable seed because all life and existence proceed from Him alone. As creation starts all beings come out from their latent state as trees and plants come out from the seeds.

"I give heat, I withhold and send forth rain, I am immortality as well as death, I am existence and non-existence, O Arjuna" (19-IX).

It is the Lord who gives heat and light to the world in the form of Sun. by sun rays the water is converted into the form of vapour and clouds which come down to this earth as rains. So it is the Lord Himself who sends forth the rains.

The Lord says that He is immortality as well as death of the worlds. He is existence (sat) because He is the manifested condition of the Reality, and also He is non-existence or ‘Asat’. But it should be noted that the Lord is not absolutely non-existent. Non-existence in this context only indicates the causal state which has not become manifest in the form of the universe of names and forms.

"Men with the knowledge of the three Vedas, drinkers of Soma juice, purified from sin, worshipping Me by sacrifices, pray for the attainment of heaven. They reach the holy world of the Lord of Gods and enjoy there divine facilities" (20-IX).

"Having enjoyed the vast world of heaven, the enter the world of the mortals upon exhaustion of their merits. Thus conforming to the laws of the three Vedas, desireing objects of desires, they attain to the state of going to and returning from heaven" (21-IX).
Even learned people who have mastered the Vedas, performed many Yajnas (sacrifices) and partaken of the Soma juice want to enjoy only heavenly pleasures. The Soma is a kind of rare creeper. The performers of Yajnas used to pour its juice into the sacrificial fire as an offering to Gods. The performers used to drink remaining portion of the juice after the Yajna was over the to purify themselves in order to become eligible to go to heaven after their death and enjoy heavenly pleasures. They had enough faith that as a result of the performance of Yajna and partaking of the Soma juice, they would go to heaven after their death and enjoy celestial pleasures that are meant for the Gods. But when the merits earned by them are exhausted, they have to come back into the world of mortals.
Again they perform Vedic rituals and do charities and earn merit to go to heaven. Thus they keep on going to heaven and coming back to earth. Being born again and again either here or heavenly worlds is not desirable as it offers only enjoyments and sufferings pertaining to the sense-world. It can never lead to Mukti or liberation.