Talk:Saguṇa Brahman as Antaryāmī:Brahman as Antaryāmī as well as Enveloper
By Sri Vishal Agarwal
In modern times, it is very fashionable to say, "Since Bhagavān resides within you, seek him only in your heart and not anywhere else." This suggestion, however, is too one-sided because the Divine resides not just within us but also outside of us, enveloping everything like the wind. The Divine resides within us, outside us and even beyond everything we can imagine.
In the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa therefore explains that the true bhakta sees the Bhagavān everywhere and in everything, including our actions, in religious ceremonies and so on — "Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, they come to realize completely that Brahman, the Adhyātma and karm in entirety." ''Gītā 7.2 "Those who know Me with Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva and Adhiyajña; and they, with their minds established in yog, know Me even at the time of leaving their bodies (i.e., at the time of death)." Gītā 7.30
The following story from Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, clarifies with a mystical example how Bhagavān is both within and outside us.
Due to the boon of Bhagavān Śiva, Ṛṣi Markaṇḍeya became immortal. Therefore, when the age of the Universe was over and it started dissolving, Markaṇḍeya still did not die. He witnessed how a massive cosmic deluge of water started drowning everything in its path — all the planets, and all living creatures. Ṛṣi Markaṇḍeya was distraught and wondered if there was nothing that was permanent in this Universe.
The water kept rising and he clung on to the high branches of a banyan tree. Suddenly, he saw a leaf floating in the torrents below him. On the leaf was a beautiful baby, smiling and sucking his own toe. The child was none other than Kṛṣṇa.
Ṛṣi Markaṇḍeya rushed to the child. But as he reached closer, he was sucked inside the child by the latter’s inhalation. Inside the child’s stomach, a fascinating sight awaited Markaṇḍeya. Inside the child, he saw all the worlds, entire universes, the destruction and creation of new Universes.
The child exhaled again, and Ṛṣi Markaṇḍeya was ejected out of the child’s body. The Ṛṣi understood the meaning of what he had seen — that Bhagavān resides inside the creation, and the entire creation also exists inside Him. At any time, thousands of universes are being created inside Him, and thousands of others are being destroyed. Everything that we see, hear, touch, taste or can talk about eventually perishes, and only Bhagavān is eternal and imperishable.