ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये।
मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि नत्वहं तेषु ते मयि।।7.12।।
Those things that are made of the quality of sattva, and those things that are made of the quality of rajas and tamas, know them to have sprung from Me alone. However, I am not in them; they are within Me!
Osho’s Commentary
This is a paradoxical statement, and very profound. Krishna says, “The three qualities of nature—sattva (purity), rajas (passion), and tamas (inertia)—all arise from me. But I am not in them; they are in me.” It is like this: draw a large circle on the ground. That is the divine. Inside it, draw a smaller circle. That is nature. All of nature is within the divine, but the divine is not contained within nature. A wave is in the ocean, but the ocean is not just in the wave. The ocean is vast, containing millions of waves. This is a very important distinction for a seeker. If you get lost in nature, in the play of the three qualities, you will not find the divine. But if you can find the divine, you will find nature already resting within it. The path is not from the part to the whole, but from the whole to the part. The small circle is in the large one. If you enter the small one, you are still within the large one, but you may not be aware of it. But if you enter the large one, the small one is seen in its right perspective. Do not get lost in the wave; seek the ocean.