Verse 6.31

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 6.31:

सर्व-भूत-स्थितं यो मां भजत्य् एकत्वम् आस्थितः ।
सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते ॥ ३१ ॥

sarva-bhūta-sthitaṃ yo māṃ bhajaty ekatvam āsthitaḥ |
sarvathā vartamāno'pi sa yogī mayi vartate || 31 ||

sarva-bhūta-sthitam–as I am situated in all beings; yaḥ–who; mām–Me; bhajati–worships; ekatvam–[of the intelligence] in unity; āsthitaḥ–taking shelter; sarvathā–in all circumstances; vartamānaḥ–remains; api–even; saḥ–that; yogī–transcendentalist; mayi–in Me; vartate–remains.

That yogī who, with non-dual intelligence, worships Me, in whom all beings take shelter, and who is free from the perception of duality, both during the stage of practice (sādhana) and the stage of perfection (siddha), dwells exclusively in Me in all circumstances.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Even before he has directly realized Me, the yogī who worships Me as the all-pervading Supersoul is not compelled to follow all the rules and regulations of sādhana. Paramātmā is the cause of everything and is the Supreme Absolute Reality without a second. He who takes shelter of this realization and engages in bhajana of Me by hearing about Me, remembering Me and so on is certainly situated in Me in all respects and under all conditions. He is not in the material world, whether he performs action as prescribed in the scriptures or not.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The various living entities have different types of bodies, which are classified as moving and non-moving. The living entities within these bodies are also individual. Consequently, there are unlimited living entities.

In Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9) it is said:

bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate

Although the living entity is situated in the inert body, he is a subtle and non-material reality. One may divide the tip of a hair into one hundred parts and further divide one of those parts into another hundred, yet the living entity is even smaller and more subtle than that.

The jīva, being extremely subtle, is a non-material entity and is capable of acquiring the nature of ānantya. Anta means ‘death’, and freedom from death is called ānantya, or ‘the state of liberation’. Paramātmā, although one, dwells within the hearts of the unlimited jīvas as a witness.

This is also stated in the Smṛtis:

eka eva paro viṣṇuḥ sarva-vyāpī na saṃśayaḥ
aiśvaryād rūpam ekaṃ ca sūrya-vat bahudheyate

The all-pervading Śrī Viṣṇu is one, and by the influence of His opulence (aiśvarya) He appears in various forms, just as the one sun appears to be in many places at the same time.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, “During the yogī’s stage of practice, it is recommended that he meditate on the four-handed form of Śrī Viṣṇu (Īśvara). This meditation culminates in realization of My sac-cid-ānanda form of Śyāmasundara, in a state of uninterrupted trance. One becomes free from the misconception of dualities perceived between Me and the Paramātmā, and the yogī becomes intently focused upon Me (Śyāmasundara) in the perfected stage. The yogīs who worship Me, who am all-pervading, perform bhakti to Me by the processes of hearing (śravaṇa) and chanting (kīrtana). They always dwell in Me even when performing prescribed duties in the stage of karma, in performing jñāna in the period of deliberation (jñāna) and in samādhi in the period of yoga.” This means they attain the liberation of always being situated near Kṛṣṇa (sāmīpya-mokṣa).

Śrī Nārada-pañcarātra, which gives instructions on yoga, states:

dik-kālādy-anavacchinne kṛṣṇe ceto vidhāya ca
tan-mayo bhavati kṣipraṃ jīvo brahmaṇi yojayet

When the living entity fixes his mind on the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is beyond the bounds of material time and space, and becomes absorbed in Him, he experiences the ecstatic bliss of transcendental association with Him.

“Therefore, devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-bhakti) is certainly the supreme state of yoga-samādhi.”