The Author and The Ultimate Substance

• The continuation of enquiry: Authored by the disciple medhātithiḥ, this verse serves as a corollary to the previous teachings. It reiterates that upon deeper enquiry, the entire world is reduced to mere nāma-rūpa (name and form), meaning all the differences we experience are entirely superficial.
• The singular reality: Behind all these superficial differences lies one ultimate substance. While vedānta typically refers to this as ātmā or brahman, this specific verse refers to it as viṣṇuḥ.
• The meaning of viṣṇuḥ: The root viś means to enter or to inhere. Thus, viṣṇuḥ is the ultimate reality inhering behind all nāma-rūpa. For example, gold is the viṣṇuḥ (substance) behind all ornaments, water is the viṣṇuḥ behind rivers and lakes, and wood is the viṣṇuḥ behind furniture. The furniture itself is merely a temporary name and form.
• The absence of true division: A bangle or a chain is nothing but gold plus a specific name and form. Essentially, there is no bheda (difference) between them. There is only one viṣṇuḥ, meaning the ultimate truth is purely advaitam (non-dual).

The Danger of Perceiving Differences

• The root of negative emotions: Focusing intensely on superficial differences inevitably leads to negative traits like kāma, krodha, lobha, and moha. It breeds rāgadveṣa (likes and dislikes), endless comparisons, superiority or inferiority complexes, and constant conflict.
• The power of oneness: Conversely, focusing on advaitam eliminates conflict. Just as politicians might try to stop regional quarrels by reminding people to think of themselves as Indian rather than identifying with specific states, seeing the underlying oneness prevents animosity.
• The folly of intolerance: The verse poses a direct question: tvayi mayi sarvatra ekaha viṣṇuhu (in you, in me, and everywhere, there is only one essential principle, which is viṣṇuḥ). Given this truth, mayi asahiṣṇuhu vyarthaṃ kupyasi—why are you intolerant, hateful, and unnecessarily angry with me, to the point where your blood pressure rises simply at the sight of another person?

Giving up Differences: The Biscuit Analogy

• Shifting the focus: The verse advises, sarvasmin api ātmānaṃ paśya—may you look past the divisions and see the one non-dual ātmā everywhere. Furthermore, bhedajñānaṃ sarvatra utsṛja—may you entirely give up the perception of and attachment to differences.
• The animal biscuit analogy: To explain this, Swami Chinmayananda gives the example of a mother giving her children animal-shaped biscuits. One child gets a lion biscuit, another gets an elephant or crocodile, and they begin to quarrel over which animal is superior and more powerful. The mother settles the dispute by pointing out that behind the shapes of the lion and the elephant, the sweet dough substance is exactly the same. In doing so, the mother acts as a great advaitin.
• The ultimate vision: Just as the mother sees the single sweet substance behind the varying animal shapes, wise people see the one sweet ātmā behind all the seeming differences in the world. The ultimate guidance of the verse is to abandon bheda buddhi (the dividing intellect) and recognize universal oneness.