Gita 10.20
Vibhuti Yoga
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः | अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ||
aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarva-bhūtāśaya-sthitaḥ | aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca bhūtānām anta eva ca ||
In essence: Before listing external manifestations, Krishna reveals the most intimate vibhūti: He is the Self dwelling in every heart, the beginning, middle, and end of all existence.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "Why does Krishna start with the Self rather than with impressive cosmic manifestations? Wouldn't grand examples be more convincing?"
Guru: "If someone asks where to find the ocean, and they're standing in it, what's the most honest first response?"
Sadhak: "To point out they're already in it."
Guru: "Exactly. Arjuna asks where to see Krishna's divine glories. Krishna's first answer is: look inward. Before you seek Me in distant stars, find Me in your own heart. This isn't evasion - it's priority. The ātmā in your heart IS My primary manifestation. Everything else is secondary expression of this primary Presence. External vibhūtis help only because they point back to the internal One."
Sadhak: "But I don't experience God as my inner Self. I experience myself as... myself. Separate, limited, confused."
Guru: "Who is aware of that confusion?"
Sadhak: "I am... the witness of my confusion?"
Guru: "And is that witness confused?"
Sadhak: "No - the witness is... clear. It sees confusion but isn't itself confused."
Guru: "That clear witness is what Krishna calls 'ātmā' - and He's saying that IS His dwelling place in you. The confusion belongs to mind; the clarity belongs to Self. You've never actually been separate from what you seek. You've only identified with the wrong layer. This verse points you to the right one."
Sadhak: "And the beginning, middle, and end - does this mean Krishna controls time?"
Guru: "More than controls - comprises. Where does any being come from ultimately?"
Sadhak: "From the Source - from God."
Guru: "And while it exists, what sustains it?"
Sadhak: "The same Source - divine energy."
Guru: "And when it ends, where does it return?"
Sadhak: "Back to the Source."
Guru: "So the journey of every existence is FROM God, THROUGH God, TO God. There is no moment outside the Divine embrace. This verse isn't about God 'controlling' beginning, middle, and end - it's about God BEING beginning, middle, and end. The threefold frame of existence is itself the Divine."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Heart-dwelling meditation: Sit quietly and locate your physical heart area. Feel its beating. Then go subtler - sense the 'āśaya,' the heart-cave, the seat of consciousness behind the physical organ. Address the indweller: 'You are the Self, seated here. I acknowledge Your presence.' This isn't visualization but recognition - not imagining something there but acknowledging what is already there. Spend 5 minutes in this acknowledgment.
Sarva-bhūta vision: Practice seeing the indwelling Self in others. When you encounter anyone today - colleague, stranger, family, difficult person - briefly think: 'God dwells in the heart of this being as their inmost Self.' This doesn't mean approving their behavior; it means recognizing their essence beneath behavior. Notice how this recognition shifts your interactions from surface to depth.
Beginning-middle-end reflection: Review your day through the threefold lens. Morning was ādi - what arose from the Source? Afternoon was madhya - what was sustained by divine energy? Evening is anta - what returns now to its origin? See your day as one cycle of divine expression: emerging, persisting, resolving. Sleep with the awareness: even this dissolution is held in the Divine.