Chapter 9 Shloka 29
समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रिय:।
ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम्।।२९।।
I am the same towards all beings; there is no one hateful or dear to Me. However, those who worship Me with devotion abide in Me and I in them.
Bhagwan says, listen! All are equal in My eyes. I do not differentiate between those who are dear to me and those who are adverse. However, whosoever worships Me with devotional faith,
1. I abide constantly in that one.
2. Such a one never dispels Me from his mind.
3. Even if I elude him physically, how can I escape from his mind?
4. I dwell forever with such a one in his heart and memory.
5. He carries Me with him constantly as a witness.
6. He binds Me to him so irrevocably that I cannot leave him for even a moment.
Such a one identifies with Me and abides in the Atma. Day after day, he dwells in My Essence. The truth of the matter is that he is My very Self and I become one with him! He has forgotten himself and I dwell within him. Who dwells in whom? When did this indwelling begin? He doesn’t remember. A certain unity takes place and that devotee, lost in his love for Me, becomes like Me.
When the Lord states “Such a one abides in Me and I in him,” He refers to the non-differentiation between the essence of the Atma and its manifest form. The essence of those loving devotees and their manifest form in life become analogous with the Lord. As the faith of the devotee grows, so also:
a) divine qualities begin to flow from his body;
b) his body belongs to the Lord;
c) his very life becomes proof of the Lord’s attributes.
Little one, the Lord does not differentiate between anyone in the world. He considers all to be alike in the Atma and pays no heed to their negative tendencies. However, interaction occurs on the basis of qualities. Therefore, even though there is no difference in the Lord’s uniform acceptance of all, His actions differ with different people in accordance with their qualities.
The Lord likes His own qualities exceedingly! He therefore wishes all to be like Him. It is only the Lord who holds the Essence of the Atma dear, who is never deluded by manifest forms.
Similarly, the true devotee of the Lord is never deluded by his body, mind, intellect, sense organs or sense objects.
