Gita 10.16
Vibhuti Yoga
वक्तुमर्हस्यशेषेण दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः | याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि ||१६||
vaktum arhasy aśeṣeṇa divyā hy ātma-vibhūtayaḥ | yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṁs tvaṁ vyāpya tiṣṭhasi ||16||
In essence: Arjuna makes the request that shapes the rest of Chapter 10: show me how You hide in plain sight across all these worlds - reveal the divine glories that pervade existence.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Why does Arjuna need to ask? If Krishna pervades everything, shouldn't it be obvious?"
Guru: "Is oxygen obvious to you?"
Sadhak: "Not really - I know it's there, but I don't perceive it directly."
Guru: "Yet you couldn't survive a minute without it. The most pervasive things are often the least noticed. What pervades everything becomes the unquestioned background. Arjuna knows intellectually that Krishna pervades all - but he wants to SEE it, to have specific entry points where he can catch the divine presence in the act of pervading."
Sadhak: "So the vibhūtis are like... attention anchors?"
Guru: "Exactly. You cannot look at everything at once, but you can look at particular excellences and recognize the Divine there. When you see the most brilliant scientist, recognize divine intelligence. When you see overwhelming beauty, recognize divine beauty. When you encounter power, recognize divine power. The vibhūtis make the invisible visible, give handles to the handleless."
Sadhak: "That makes spirituality much more practical. Instead of trying to see God everywhere abstractly, I focus on particular manifestations."
Guru: "Yes - and gradually, as you recognize God in particular excellences, the recognition spreads. You start seeing God in the obviously divine, then in the subtly divine, then in everything. The vibhūtis are training wheels for divine vision."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Vibhūti intention: Before starting your day, set an intention to notice divine manifestations. Say: 'Today I will look for You in excellence, beauty, power, and virtue wherever I encounter them.' This isn't about labeling everything 'divine' mechanically, but genuinely watching for moments where something feels touched by transcendence. Carry a mental list: extraordinary kindness, unusual clarity, striking beauty, overwhelming power.
Excellence recognition: Throughout the day, when you encounter genuine excellence - a skilled craftsperson, a beautiful vista, a wise decision, an act of courage - pause and mentally acknowledge: 'This is vibhūti. This excellence is divine presence becoming visible.' Don't force it on mediocrity; reserve it for genuine excellence that catches your breath. This trains perception to see the sacred in the secular.
Vibhūti catalog: Before sleep, review the day and recall 3-5 instances where you recognized divine manifestation. It might be in nature, in people, in art, in ideas, in events. Build a personal catalog: where did God show up today? This practice gradually shifts consciousness from seeing a world devoid of God to recognizing a world saturated with divine presence.