Vishnu Sahasra Naamam-Vol III-RR-edit.pub - Ibiblio

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reminds us that this does not mean that everything or everyone is identical to
Him, but that everything is part of Him).
The concept that He is the AtmA of everything, is also conveyed in Slokam 4.
24 of gItA:
brahmArpaNam brahma havih brahmAgnau brahmaNA hutam |
brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma karma samAdhinA ||
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(gItA 4. 24)
"Brahman is the instrument through which the offering is made; The offerings
are Brahman; The One who offers is Brahman, and the offering is made into
the agni which is Brahman. One who performs all actions with this
understanding and knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, attains none other
than Brahman".
SrI rAmAnuja again explains that the ladle with which the offering is made is
Brahman because it is an effect of Brahman, (who is the material cause of this
universe); The oblation likewise is Brahman; It is offered by the agent
Brahman into the fire of Brahman. Again, identity is not to be inferred from
this, but the sense that He has all these as His body.
c) SrI rAdhAkRshNa Sastri gives the additional interpretation that He is
mahA-havih since He accepts as an offering the whole universe at the time of
pralaya, and contains it all within Him. Just as an offering made to fire
becomes fire itself, the offering made to Him at the time of pralaya becomes
a part of Brahman Himself.