Chapter 14 - Verse 27

For, in Me, in the Pratyagātman, in the true Inner Self, abides Brahman, the Supreme Self (Paramātman) who is immortal and immutable; who is the Eternal Dharma, i.e., who is attainable by the Dharma of Jñāna-Yoga or wisdom-devotion; who is the unfailing Bliss, the Supreme Bliss, the Bliss Immortal. Because I,—the Pratyagātman, the Immor- tal Self,—am the abode of the Supreme Self, therefore by Right Knowledge one sees that the Pratyagātman is the very Supreme Self. It is this truth which has been declared in the preceding verse in the words “he is fitted for becoming Brahman.”

The meaning of the passage may be explained as follows : It is through His Īśvara-Śakti,—through the power He has to manifest Himself as Īśvara or the Lord of the universe,—that Brahman shews His grace to His devotees, and so on. I am only that power or Śakti in manifestation, and am therefore Brahman Himself; for Śakti—power, potentiality, energy—cannot be distinct from the one in whom it inheres.

The verse may also be explained as follows :

By ‘Brahman,’ is here meant the Conditioned Brahman, who alone can be spoken of by any such word as ‘Brahman.’—I, the Unconditioned and the Unutterable, am the abode of the Conditioned Brahman, who is Immortal and Indestructible. I am also the abode of the Eternal Dharma of Wisdom-Devotion, and the abode of the unfailing Bliss born of that Devotion.