Summary:

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 6: This session revises previous session and adds important nuances. Ishvara alone is the nimitta-kāraṇam (intelligent cause) and upādāna-kāraṇam (material cause) of the universe; His sarva-jñatvam (all-knowledge) and sarva-śakti (all-power) continuously reorganize as every galaxy, atom, law and thought while never ceasing to be Knowledge-Power, just as 0-1 binary reshuffles yet stays 0-1. Therefore the wise see only sameness – everything is Ishvara, the Lord of all beings.

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 6:

अजः अपि सन् अव्यय-आत्मा भूतानाम् ईश्वरः अपि सन् ।
प्रकृतिम् स्वाम् अधिष्ठाय सम्भवामि आत्म-मायया ॥ ४-६॥
ajaḥ api san avyaya-ātmā bhūtānām īśvaraḥ api san ।
prakṛtim svām adhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmi ātma-māyayā ॥ 4-6॥

Even though, being one who is unborn, one whose knowledge does not wane, and also being the Lord of all living beings, still, wielding My own prakṛti, I, ‘as though,’ come into being by My own creative power.

This session revises previous session and adds important nuances.

Focus in the verse is specifically, “Lord of all beings”. We need to answer, how is it that Ishvara is the only being (the truth of sentient beings and insentient elements), that everything is Ishvara, that Ishvara alone is…

Let's Being With Foundational Logic: From Pot-Maker to Creator

A potter (ghaṭasya kartā) must be a pot-knower (ghaṭajñaḥ). Pot-knower (ghaṭajñaḥ) also has the power or skill (śakti) to turn his knowledge into the actual pot.

Meaning, Kartṛtvam (doership/creation) presupposes jñatṛtvaṁ (knowership). Cannot create what you do not know.

Let's apply this to Ishvara…

Ishvara (In Sanskrit means, “Cause of the Universe”, and in Religion “God/Lord”):

When you say “Ishvara”, what you mean in that word is “cause of the universe”. The cause is both…

1. Nimitta-Kāraṇam (Intelligent/Efficient Cause, Maker, sarvajña-sarvaśaktimān):
   • If the maker of a pot must have knowledge of that pot, then the maker of the entire universe – every galaxy, every atom, every law of nature, and every thought in every mind – must necessarily have knowledge of everything. This establishes Ishvara as the cosmic architect.
2. Upādāna-Kāraṇam (Material Cause, the Substance of Everything):
   • For any effect, you need two causes: the maker (intelligent cause) and the material (material cause). For a pot, these are separate: the potter and the clay. But for the total universe, this separation is logically impossible.
   • The Problem of “Pre-Existing” Material: If Ishvara used a material that existed outside of Himself, that would mean there was already time, space, and objects . This leads to an infinite regression: who created that material? Another Ishvara? Only possibility is that the material cause is not distinct from the efficient cause. Both causes are one.

The Perfect Analogies: Spider & Dream

Intention is to show that you can have one being who is both nimitta & upadana karanam)

1. Spider: The spider is the intelligent cause of its web's geometric design. Simultaneously, it is the material cause, as the web is spun from its own saliva. Also, while it emits the web, it ever remains the spider.  Silkworm is another example; it spins silk (material) from it's salivary glands, and creates an oval shaped cocoon. 
2. Your Own Dream: In your dream, you are the creator. You have the power and intelligence to project an entire world. And the material? The dream mountains, rivers, and people are made of no other material than your own mind. Furthermore, in deep sleep, this very mind (equated to maya; the source from which arises intelligence and material) resolves into you, the existent-awareful being. Then again, out of you, the mind goes from unmanifest to manifest, and simultaneously it projects another intelligently designed dream and it's materials. 

The Nature of the “Material”: Knowledge-Power in Constant Reorganization

If Ishvara is the material of the universe, what is that “material”? It cannot be a physical substance like clay, because that would limit it. The material is pure Intelligence or Knowledge-Power itself.

Meaning his knowledge-power continuously reorganizes itself into every galaxy, atom, law and thought – while always remaining knowledge-power. Thus Ishvara is parinami-upadana-karnam (material cause that's always reshuffling/reorganizing/transforming) and pravaha-nityatvam (flowing eternally between manifest-unmanifest).

Analogy of pravaha-nityatvam & parinami-upadana-karanam: Binary 0's and 1's are constantly reshuffling in endless combinations to form images on the screen. Whatever you see on the screen is nothing but 0's and 1's. Similarly, Intelligence is constantly reshuffling/reorganizing itself.

The Resulting Vision: Seeing Sameness in Everything

Because Ishvara is in-and-through every form, pervading the entire creation just as clay pervades every part of a pot , He sees no contradiction. From the perspective of the cause, there is only sameness. Whereas Jiva’s perception being on countless effects, it gets entangled trying to reconcile the irreconcilable.

Next session: We'll discuss second line of the verse: “Wielding My Own Prakṛti, I Come Into Being by My Own Creative Power”

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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.

Recorded 23 Nov, 2025