Gita 10.39

Vibhuti Yoga

यच्चापि सर्वभूतानां बीजं तदहमर्जुन । न तदस्ति विना यत्स्यान्मया भूतं चराचरम् ॥३९॥

yac cāpi sarva-bhūtānāṁ bījaṁ tad aham arjuna | na tad asti vinā yat syān mayā bhūtaṁ carācaram ||39||

In essence: Krishna is the primordial seed of all existence - nothing that moves or stands still can exist without Him.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "If Krishna is the seed of all beings, where does that leave evolution? Science shows life developing from simple to complex over billions of years."

Guru: "Does a seed give birth to something unlike itself? Or does it unfold what it already contains in potential?"

Sadhak: "It unfolds what's latent. An acorn becomes an oak because the oak is somehow already in the acorn."

Guru: "Evolution describes the unfolding process. Bīja points to what is unfolding. Are these in conflict, or are they different levels of description?"

Sadhak: "I see - science describes the mechanism, this describes the source. But why can't the universe just exist on its own without needing Krishna?"

Guru: "Ask yourself: what does it mean for something to 'exist on its own'? Can any particular thing generate its own existence? Does any object contain within itself the reason why it exists rather than not existing?"

Sadhak: "No... everything seems contingent on other things. But then, why doesn't that regress infinitely? Why must there be a ground?"

Guru: "You've arrived at the philosophical question. Either existence is grounded in something that IS existence itself - not another contingent thing but Being itself - or we accept infinite regress, which explains nothing. Krishna is claiming to be that ground. 'I am the seed' means 'I am that from which all contingent existence borrows its being.'"

Sadhak: "So literally NOTHING can exist without Him? Even inanimate matter?"

Guru: "What keeps that rock being a rock right now? Why does it continue to exist from moment to moment rather than vanishing? Physics describes HOW it persists; Krishna describes WHY there is anything to persist. The rock's being is His being expressing as rock. Does this change how you see rocks?"

Sadhak: "It should make everything sacred. If existence itself is Divine presence, then there's nowhere God isn't."

Guru: "Now you understand the culmination of the vibhūti teaching. The specific examples trained your vision. This verse says: stop needing examples - see it everywhere directly."

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🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Bīja contemplation: Before opening your eyes, contemplate: 'The seed of my existence is Krishna. Whatever I am springs from that source.' As you become aware of your body, mind, breath - recognize each as an unfolding of the one bīja. Set an intention: 'Today I will look for the seed in every being I encounter - the same seed that is my source.' This recognition creates instant connection with all life.

☀️ Daytime

Nothing-without-Him awareness: Choose three ordinary objects - a cup, a tree, a passing stranger. For each, pause and reflect: 'This cannot exist without Krishna. Its very existence is His presence expressing in this form.' Notice how this shifts your perception from seeing 'things' to seeing Being manifesting. When you encounter something unpleasant, apply the same recognition - even this exists only through Him. Does this change your response?

🌙 Evening

Carācaram meditation: Sit quietly and expand awareness to include moving things (people, animals, wind, your breath) and non-moving things (furniture, walls, earth). Recognize both categories as unified in their dependence on Krishna. Then turn awareness inward: 'My thoughts move, my body is relatively still - both exist only through Him.' Rest in the recognition that nothing in your entire field of experience - inner or outer - exists independently of the Divine. What is it like to be held in existence by that Presence?

Common Questions

If everything that exists is dependent on Krishna, does anything have independent reality? Are we all just illusions?

Dependence doesn't mean illusion. The relationship is better understood as 'dependent origination' and 'sustained existence' rather than 'illusory appearance.' When Krishna says nothing can exist without Him, He's not saying things don't exist at all - He's saying they don't exist autonomously. Think of waves on an ocean: each wave is real, has characteristics, affects other waves, but has no existence apart from the ocean. It's not that the wave is an illusion - it's that the wave IS the ocean expressing in that form. Similarly, beings are real manifestations of the Divine, not mere appearances over a void. Your existence is real; its source and substance is Krishna. This is neither absolute dualism (two completely independent realities) nor absolute non-dualism that denies all distinction (no real waves, only ocean) but a relationship where genuine existence flows from and depends on the ultimate Source.

How does Krishna being the 'seed' differ from a deistic God who created and then left? Doesn't the seed just start things and then the plant grows on its own?

The crucial phrase is 'na tad asti vinā mayā' - nothing CAN exist without Me. This is present tense, continuous dependence. A deistic god winds up the universe and steps back; Krishna is saying nothing persists even for a moment without His sustaining presence. The seed metaphor points to origin and essential nature, but Krishna adds the explicit statement about ongoing dependency. It's more like saying 'I am the existence in every existing thing' than 'I am the first thing that started the chain.' The oak that has long since grown from the acorn still depends on soil, water, sun - on a web of sustaining relationships. Krishna is claiming to be that ultimate sustaining reality for everything, not a historical first cause but an ever-present ground of being.

If Krishna is the seed of all beings including evil ones, doesn't that make Him the source of evil?

Krishna is the source of existence, not the source of the distortions that arise from misuse of free will. He gives the capacity to exist and act; how that capacity is directed comes from the being itself. The seed gives the tree its potential, but whether the tree grows straight or twisted depends on conditions and responses. Further, what we call 'evil' is not a positive thing but a privation - a turning away from the good, a misuse of genuine goods. The existence of the evil-doer is from Krishna; the evil itself is a wrong turning of that existence. Even in the act of evil, whatever existence, power, and intelligence is employed comes from the Divine - the misdirection does not. This is why Chapter 16 can list both divine and demonic qualities while still maintaining that all being depends on Krishna. The being is His; the bending of being away from dharma is the jīva's contribution.

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