Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 9, Verse 6
यथाऽऽकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायुः सर्वत्रगो महान्।
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय।।
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय।।
yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān
tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni mat-sthānītyupadhāraya
also searched as "yathakasha sthito nityam vayuh sarvatrago mahan"
Translation
As the powerful element air, moving everywhere, ever remains in the ether, know that so too all beings abide in Me.
Vāṇi's rendering
As the vast wind blows everywhere yet always rests in space — so all beings rest in me.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यथाyathā | just as |
| आकाश-स्थितःākāśa-sthitaḥ | resting in space; abiding in the open sky (joined to yathā by sandhi as yathākāśa) |
| नित्यम्nityaṁ | always, without a break |
| वायुःvāyuḥ | the wind |
| सर्वत्र-गःsarvatra-go | going everywhere, ranging over all places |
| महान्mahān | mighty, vast |
| तथाtathā | so too |
| सर्वाणिsarvāṇi | all |
| भूतानिbhūtāni | beings, everything that lives |
| मत्-स्थानिmat-sthāni | resting in me, standing in me |
| इतिiti | thus (sandhi: mat-sthāni + iti + upadhāraya) |
| उपधारयupadhāraya | hold this firmly, keep it steadily in mind |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 6 mean?
Krishna compares every living being to wind, and himself to the space wind moves through. The wind travels everywhere and is never once outside the sky. So beings act, wander, struggle — and never leave Krishna. Resting in him is not stillness or confinement; it is the ground that makes all movement possible.
What is the meaning of 'yathakasha sthito nityam vayuh sarvatrago mahan'?
As the mighty wind, ranging everywhere, always abides in space. That is the first half of the image. Nityam matters — always, not sometimes. There is no moment when the wind steps outside the sky to rest. Krishna is describing an unbroken abiding, not an occasional return.
If all beings rest in Krishna, does that mean we have no freedom?
Space does not steer the wind. It gives the wind room. Krishna's holding is exactly this: not control, not surveillance, but the openness within which your choices are even possible. Freedom is not lost by having a ground. It is the ground that lets you move at all.
Why does Krishna say 'upadharaya' instead of simply 'know'?
Upadhāraya means hold it, keep it under you, let it bear weight. Krishna is not asking Arjuna to agree with a doctrine and move on. He is asking him to carry this image into the day — so that when fear rises, something steady is already underneath it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Wind is not held by space; it is simply never outside it. It rushes, turns, tears roofs off houses — and space neither resists nor is touched. Krishna gives Arjuna this image because Arjuna is about to be told that everything rests in him, and the mind hears that as containment, as a box. It is not a box. You move freely. Nothing you do disturbs the one you move within. Your restlessness is not a problem being tolerated; it is wind in space. Upadhāraya — hold this steadily, Krishna says. Not believe it. Hold it, the way space holds weather, and go on moving.