Chapter 7 · Shloka 12— The Yoga of Knowledge & Realization

ye chaiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāśh cha ye matta eveti tān viddhi na tvahaṁ teṣhu te mayi

ye

— whatever

cha

— and

eva

— certainly

sāttvikāḥ

— in the mode of goodness

bhāvāḥ

— states of material existence

rājasāḥ

— in the mode of passion

tāmasāḥ

— in the mode of ignorance

cha

— and

ye

— whatever

mattaḥ

— from me

eva

— certainly

iti

— thus

tān

— those

viddhi

— know

na

— not

tu

— but

aham

— I

teṣhu

— in them

te

— they

mayi

— in me

"Ye caiva sattvika bhava rajasas tamasas ca ye, matta eveti tan viddhi na tv aham tesu te mayi." — Whatever states of being there are — sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic — know that they all proceed from Me alone. Yet I am not in them; they are in Me. Krishna makes a subtle but decisive metaphysical clarification. All 'bhavas' — states, conditions, modes of existence — whether characterized by sattva (purity, harmony, knowledge), rajas (activity, passion, restlessness), or tamas (inertia, darkness, dullness) — all arise from Krishna alone ('matta eva'). The three gunas and everything constituted by them have their source in the Divine. But then the vital qualification: 'na tv aham tesu te mayi' — yet I am not in them; they are in Me. Shankaracharya explains this carefully. Krishna is the source of the gunas, but He is not dependent on them, not contained or limited by them, not affected by them. They exist within Him (depend on Him for their being), but He does not exist within them (He is not bound or conditioned by them). This is the relationship of the transcendent source to its emanations. The space in a room contains the objects, but the objects do not contain or limit the space. Likewise, all the modes of nature arise from and exist within the Divine, but the Divine remains transcendent, untouched, and free. The teaching prevents a subtle error: while everything comes from God, God is not therefore reducible to or trapped within the world of changing qualities. The source transcends what it produces, even while pervading it.

Krishna makes a subtle point with big implications: everything — all the harmonious, restless, and dull states of existence — comes from the Divine, yet the Divine isn't contained or limited by any of them. They're in God; God isn't in them. Think of space in a room: it holds all the furniture, but the furniture doesn't trap or define the space. This matters for how we understand the relationship between the source and what it produces. Applied inwardly: you might say all your states — your calm, your restlessness, your heaviness — arise within your deeper awareness, but that awareness isn't trapped inside any of them. You contain your moods; your moods don't contain you. The witness transcends what passes through it.

Krishna makes a subtle point with big implications: everything — all the harmonious, restless, and dull states of existence — comes FROM the Divine, yet the Divine isn't contained or limited by any of them. They're in God; God isn't in them. Picture space in a room: it holds all the furniture, but the furniture doesn't trap or define the space. This matters for understanding source vs. product. Applied to YOU: all your states — your calm, your restlessness, your heaviness — arise within your deeper awareness, but that awareness isn't trapped inside any of them. You contain your moods; your moods don't contain YOU. The witness behind it all transcends whatever passes through.

Krishna explains something interesting about how everything works! He says all the different states of things — calm and bright ones, busy and active ones, and slow and sleepy ones — ALL come from him! But here's the clever part: he's not trapped inside them — they're inside HIM! It's like how a big room holds all the toys, but the toys don't hold the room. Similarly, all the world's states are held by God, but God is bigger than all of them and free!