Purport

This Shloka describes three more profound and important characteristics of Brahman. They are: 

1. Undivided, yet pervading all living beings as if divided. 
2. The sustainer of all living beings. 
3. The one who consumes and creates.

All three characteristics are extremely subtle and difficult to understand. However, understanding them helps explain several profound principles of Sanatan Dharma and provides answers to many difficult questions.

Let us examine each characteristic in detail.

1. Undivided, Yet Pervading All Living Beings as If Divided

When we read this statement, it initially appears to contain a contradiction.

Undivided means something that is not divided or cannot be divided. Divided means precisely the opposite: something that exists in separate parts.

The Shloka states that Brahman is undivided, yet it exists in all living beings individually, as though it were divided.

How is this possible?

This is where the profound meaning lies.

It is true that a physical object cannot be both undivided and divided in the same sense at the same time. However, this limitation does not necessarily apply to non-physical entities.

The characteristics of Brahman described in the preceding verses make it clear that Brahman is an unmanifest, non-physical reality.

Consider space as an example. Space is indivisible and exists uniformly everywhere, yet it is present throughout matter, including within atoms. A substantial part of the volume occupied by any physical object is space.
Brahman is somewhat similar in this respect. It is undivided and exists everywhere in the universe. Yet it is also present within every living being in such a way that it appears to be an individual entity confined to that body's boundaries, as though it does not exist outside the body.

What does this mean?
To understand this, we must examine the characteristics of the soul.

If we look carefully at the characteristics of the soul described in Chapter 2, we find that several of them are identical or very similar to those of Brahman: 

1. The soul is eternal. 
2. The soul is neither born nor does it die.
3. The soul is indestructible. 
4. The soul is immutable; it does not undergo change. 
5. The soul is primeval. 
6. The soul is pure. 
7. The soul is unmanifest.

All these characteristics are also attributed to Brahman.
However, there are some fundamental differences between Brahman and the individual soul: 

1. Brahman is omnipresent, whereas the individual soul is localised. The soul is associated with one body at a time. 
2. Brahman is the sustainer, whereas the soul is sustained. The soul does not sustain other beings independently; rather, it depends on Brahman. 
3. Brahman is the one who consumes and creates, whereas the soul does not perform these functions independently. The soul can only leave one body and enter another.

There are further fundamental differences as well

The relationship between Brahman and the soul can be understood through the analogy of an ocean and a drop of water. Brahman is the ocean, while the soul is like a bubble within that ocean.

The idea is that the soul is a localised manifestation of Brahman. Brahman is undivided, yet it appears to exist separately within every living body in the form of the individual soul.

Although the soul is Brahman itself, its association with a particular body makes it appear to be a localised, individual entity.

Thus, the statement, “Undivided, yet pervading all living beings as if divided,” can be understood to mean that Brahman, although indivisible, appears to exist locally within individual bodies in the form of the soul.

Consider a bubble in the ocean. When a layer of air becomes enclosed by water, the bubble appears to be a separate entity, even though it exists within the ocean. In a similar way, the individual soul appears separate from Brahman.

Understanding this relationship between Brahman and the soul helps us appreciate the extraordinary characteristics of the soul. Moreover, it enables us to understand the concept of Moksha, or liberation, more clearly.

When the soul becomes free from the bondage of the body, it merges back into Brahman, just as a bubble, upon bursting, becomes one with the ocean again.

2. The Sustainer of All Living Beings

This characteristic means that Brahman is the underlying reality through which life exists throughout the universe.

Life is eternal because the soul is eternal, and the soul is eternal because it originates from Brahman.

Brahman is the fundamental cause and source of life in all living beings

3. The One Who Consumes and Creates
This characteristic of Brahman, together with the preceding characteristics, helps us understand the concepts of Prarabdha and rebirth.

It also helps explain how life originates in the universe and how the journey of the individual soul continues uninterrupted as it leaves one body and becomes associated with another.

When the soul leaves one body and enters another, the existence of one living being comes to an end, while another living being comes into existence. In this sense, one being is consumed and another is created.

Brahman is the underlying source of both the dissolution of one living being and the emergence of another.

This is the meaning of the statement that Brahman is the one who consumes and creates.

Shri Hari Om Tat Sat