Śivasaṃhitā 1.52
Prathamaḥ paṭalaḥ — Jñāna
Sanskrit text
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Commentary
The omnipresence of Spirit expressed with the same spatial analogy as the previous verse, but now applied to all beings without exception. From the highest divinities to the densest atom of matter, a single reality penetrates and sustains them. There is no corner of the universe where Spirit is absent.
The compound saccidānanda—a fusion of sat (Being), cit (Consciousness), and ānanda (Bliss)—is the classical definition of brahman in Vedānta. Sarvabhūteṣu (in all beings) insists on universality without exception: the inert and the living, the visible and the subtle. Satatam (continuously, always) adds the temporal dimension: there is no moment when Spirit is absent.
This vision of a single reality pervading everything was the foundation of the devotional movement that insisted on seeing God in every being—the sarvabhūta-hitā (benevolence toward all beings) of the yogic tradition. The Śivasaṃhitā is not mere abstract metaphysics: this teaching has ethical and practical consequences for those who have realized it.