"I'm Everywhere Yet Seen Nowhere—All Beings Exist in Me, But I Do Not Dwell in Them — Gita 9.4" —

Among the most paradoxical and profound verses in the Bhagavad Gita is Chapter 9, Verse 4. It reads:

"मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना | मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्थ्यवस्थितः ||"

"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them."

This verse opens the door to a vast and subtle truth that lies at the heart of the Gita's vision: that the Divine is both immanent and transcendent, present in all things and yet beyond them. It articulates a reality that seems contradictory at first glance but forms the foundation of non-dual Vedanta.


The opening line, "By Me, this entire universe is pervaded in My unmanifested form," brings forth the first profound assertion: that the Supreme Being pervades all of creation, yet remains unmanifest. This echoes the Upanishadic truth that Brahman, the Absolute, is not an object that can be seen, touched, or measured, yet It is the essence of all.

To be 'unmanifest' (avyakta) is to exist without form, quality, or limitation. This is not absence, but presence so subtle and infinite that it eludes sensory grasp. It is like space: though unseen, it holds everything. Brahman is not part of the world; the world is in Brahman.

The paradox deepens in the next line: "All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." It appears contradictory. If all beings are in Him, how is He not in them? But this is the subtlety of Vedanta. He is the substratum, not a part of what rests on Him. Just as a dream appears in the dreamer's mind but the dream does not alter the dreamer, so too does the world appear in the Self, yet the Self remains untouched.


Consider the analogy of a dream. In sleep, the mind projects a vast world: people, conversations, landscapes, events. All of them arise from and exist in the mind. Yet the mind is not in those dream objects. The mountain in the dream is not holding the dreamer. In fact, when the dream ends, the mind remains, while the world dissolves.

In the same way, all of creation arises from the Divine, exists in It, and dissolves into It. Yet the Divine is not changed or affected by the creation. This one-sided dependence defines transcendence. The world depends on Brahman, but Brahman is free of the world.

The perception that the world exists independently and is full of separate entities is due to Maya, the cosmic illusion. Maya is not simply falsehood; it is appearance. It is what makes the One appear as many, the formless as form, the changeless as changing.

Maya is like a prism through which white light splits into many colors. The colors are not false, but they veil the unity of the light. Similarly, all beings, forms, and movements are real at the level of appearance but veil the undivided reality of Brahman.

This shloka exposes the illusion: what you see as many is One. What you seek as God is already the substratum of your own being.

In later verses of the same chapter, Krishna extends this idea. He says:

"I do not dwell in them. And yet, they exist in Me. Behold My Divine mystery. I support all beings, yet I am not in them." (Gita 9.5)

This underscores a key principle: the Divine is the non-doer in all doing. All actions, movements, and processes arise in Prakriti (Nature), but the Purusha (Spirit) remains as witness. It is like the sun: it shines, and by its light, all things move, but the sun itself does not move.


A powerful Vedantic metaphor is that of the ocean and its waves. Waves arise from the ocean, exist in the ocean, and return to the ocean. Their individuality is apparent, not real. The water in all of them is the same.

Similarly, all beings are waves in the ocean of Brahman. They appear different but are made of the same essence. Their rise and fall are temporal. The ocean remains.

But just as the wave forgets it is water, the soul forgets it is Brahman. The Gita's teachings are meant to awaken this memory.

These truths are not meant to be intellectually admired but experientially realized. To know that everything is in God and God is untouched by everything is to live with freedom, love, and unshakeable peace.

This realization happens not through belief, but through deep meditation, inquiry, and surrender. When the mind becomes still, and the ego dissolves, one begins to sense the silent presence that underlies all change. That presence is your true nature.

In such states, one realizes, "I am not the doer. I am not the body or the mind. I am the silent witness, the Self, infinite and eternal." This is not escapism; it is awakening.

Far from making the world meaningless, this realization makes it sacred. If everything is pervaded by the Divine, then all life becomes worship. Every action, however small, becomes a form of offering.

This leads to Karma Yoga – action without attachment. When one knows that the self is not the doer, that the world is a passing wave, then action flows without anxiety. Results no longer bind.

Devotion too matures. God is no longer only in temples or rituals, but in all things. Every face becomes divine. Every moment becomes sacred.

The real beauty of Bhagavad Gita 9.4 is that it demands no blind belief. It asks you to look within. To observe. To question. To meditate.

The Divine that is everywhere and seen nowhere is not hiding. It is simply too close to be seen as an object. It is the Seer within, the Witness of all experiences. When you stop searching outside, and turn within with humility and stillness, you discover:

You are that. Tat Tvam Asi.

The Verse as a Doorway

Bhagavad Gita 9.4 is not just a verse; it is a doorway. A bridge between the finite and the Infinite. Between the world of names and forms, and the formless reality beyond.

It tells us that the Divine is not something to be found but something to be realized as ever-present. It is the stillness beneath motion, the silence beneath sound, the awareness behind thought.

To say, "All beings are in Me, but I am not in them," is to awaken us from the illusion of separateness. It is the silent thunder that reminds us:

The One you seek is the One you are.

I dwell in all, yet dwell in none,
The moonlight speaks, but owns no tongue.
You seek Me far in temple and tome,
But I am the breath that brings you home.