Text 46
evaṁ hy etāni bhūtāni
bhūteṣv ātmātmanā tataḥ
ubhayaṁ mayy atha pare
paśyatābhātam akṣare
evam — in this manner; hi — indeed; etāni — these; bhūtāni — material entities; bhūteṣu — within the elements of creation; ātmā — the self; ātmanā — in its own true identity; tataḥ — pervasive; ubhayam — both; mayi — within Me; atha — that is to say; pare — within the Supreme Truth; paśyata — you should see; ābhātam — manifested; akṣare — within the imperishable.
In this way all created things reside within the basic elements of creation, while the spirit souls pervade the creation, remaining in their own true identity. You should see both of these — the material creation and the self — as manifest within Me, the imperishable Supreme Truth.
One should properly understand the relationships among the material objects of this world, the elements comprising their basic substance, the individual spirit souls and the one Supreme Soul. The various objects of material enjoyment, such as pots, rivers and mountains, are manufactured from the basic material elements — earth, water, fire and so on. These elements pervade material things as their cause, while the spirit souls pervade them in their special role as their enjoyer (svātmanā). And ultimately, the material elements, their products and the living entities are all manifested within and pervaded by the imperishable, perfectly complete Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa.
A jñānī with realization of these facts should feel no separation from the Lord in any situation, but the gopīs of Vraja are much more elevated in their Kṛṣṇa consciousness than ordinary jñānīs. Because of their intense love for Kṛṣṇa in His most humanlike, all-attractive aspect as a young cowherd boy, Kṛṣṇa’s internal potency, Yoga-māyā, covered their knowledge of His majestic aspects, such as His all-pervasiveness. Thus the gopīs were able to relish the intense ecstasy caused by their love in separation from Him. Only in jest is Śrī Kṛṣṇa ascribing to them a lack of spiritual discrimination.