15-15

सर्वस्य चाहम् हृदि सन्निविष्टो
मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानम् अपोहनम् च ।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो
वेदान्तकृत् वेद विदेव चाहम् ॥ १५ ॥

sarvasya cAham hRdi sanniviSTo
mattaH smRtirjJAnam apohanam ca |
vedaizca sarvairahameva vedyo
vedAntakRt veda videva cAham || 15 ||

अहम् सन्निविष्टः [aham sanniviSTaH] I am सर्वस्य हृदि [sarvasya hRdi] at the heart of everything. ज्ञानम् [jJAnam] Awareness, स्मृति [smRti] memory अपोहनम् च [apohanam ca] and the ability to reason मत्तः [mattaH] come from Me. अहम् एव [aham eva] I alone वेद्यः [vedyaH] am to be known सर्वैः वेदैः [sarvaiH vedaiH] from all the Vedas. वेदान्तकृत् [vedAntakRt] I make the end of the Vedas च [ca] and अहम् एव [aham eva] I am the One वेदवित् [vedavit] who knows the Vedas.

The Lord says- I am present at the heart of all beings, the place where the awareness called ‘consciousness’ comes from. This ‘consciousness’ is the awareness that brings the experience of pleasantness, initiates the process of digestion and governs all activities that are performed or stopped in all beings. In this way, I am at the core of all beings, regulating everything by My will. The scriptures say the same:

य।अअ [ya.aa] , 3-11-2 says - ‘He is the core of the Self in everyone, ruling them and pervading them from the inside’.

बृहदारण्यक [bRhadAraNyaka] , 3-7-3 says - ‘He who is situated in the earth…’

बृहदारण्यक [bRhadAraNyaka] , 3-7-22 says - ‘He is present in the Self while being distinct from the Self. He rules the Self from the inside’

महा नारायण [mahA nArAyaNa] says - ‘The heart is like a lotus flower facing downwards. Everything is present within, in a subtle form’.

छान्दोग्य [chAndogya] , 8-1-1 says - ‘In this body, which is the Lord’s place of residence, there is a small lotus, with a small space. That space is the Lord in subtle form’, after which it goes on to describe the qualities of that space - its intent is always fulfilled, it has infinite joy, it has no thirst and so on - these are the qualities of the Lord.

In the विष्णु पुराण [viSNu purANa] , 1-17-20 Prahlada tells his father - ‘Vishnu is the ruler of everything in the world, without exception, He pervades everything’.

मनु स्मृति [manu smRti] , 12-122 says - ‘He controls everything, being smaller and subtle beyond anything else’.

मनु स्मृति [manu smRti] , 8-92 says - ‘The Lord, who is the controller and the regulator, is present at your heart’

Hence, everyone’s memory comes from Me. This ‘memory’ is the awareness that comes from merely re-living a past experience. Awareness is to infer and recognize things based on experiences from various organs.

Forgetfulness and the inability to reason is from Me. The power to reason comes from Me, as well as the ability to anticipate, says the Lord. This comes to us in the form of ‘I have learnt this fact (a fact like gravity); I see the situation (like a stone being tossed); I can reason what’s next (the stone will fall)’. The chain of events that happens after this (the stone hurting someone) adds to our learning. In this Shloka, The Lord said ‘All this comes from Me’.

‘I alone am to be known from all the Vedas’ - The Vedas describe natural phenomena like fire, wind, the Sun, the Moon, acts of nature and so on. I am inside all of them, at the core of their Self. Hence, I am the One to be known from all the Vedas. The words ‘human’, ‘god’ and all others refer to the Self in them. The Vedas describe the methods of worshipping the gods, along with the results of such worship.

It is the Lord who is being worshipped by all methods, being at the core of every Self.

‘I make the end of the Vedas’ - the Vedas end in the fruits of the actions they prescribed. ‘Making the end’ here means that the Lord makes the fruits - He is the One who gives the result stated in the Vedas.

This was stated previously, starting with 7-21 and 7-22: ‘Which ever devotee likes to please what ever form with dedication, I give stability to the same faith in each of them. With that dedication, the person wishes to worship accordingly. By this he attains his desires. These desires are given by Me alone’ and in 9-24: ‘I am indeed the enjoyer and the single Master of all services rendered to anyone or anything. Those who crave for material wealth do not know Me as I am. Hence, they fall back’.

‘I am the One who knows the Vedas’: All the Vedas describe and address the Lord. The Lord says ‘I know this fact’. Those who speak other meanings of the Vedas do not know the Vedas - that is the opinion expressed here.

‘Hence, listen to the one summary of all the Vedas from Me’ - continues the Lord.