Bhagavad Gita 12

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avyakto 'kshara ity uktas tam Ahuh paramAm gatim |

yam prApya na nivartante tad dhAma paramam mama ||

(8.21) 12

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Described as unmanifested; imperishable; it is said [by the Wise] to be the Goal

supreme. Having attained it they never return, that is My Supreme State.

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How can it be described at all? It is simply Being.

The Self is ever-unmanifest. The Self is ever-imperishable. Words, adequate as

pointers, fall short. They come from the source. They return to the source. The

source, akshara, is the imperishable om. Words point, indicate, sign. It is

beyond the manifest, beyond the unmanifest - yet called 'Unmanifest' because no

satisfactory word can be found for it. Call it 'Om'. Some think it is unmanifest

in the beginning, then manifest in the intermediate stage, and again unmanifest

in the end. But the eternally unmanifest state, which is referred to here, is

that Immutable One - Arunachala - the unmoving Self. Manifest / unmanifest - in

essence they are one. The myriad universes, mere concepts within the mind, all

are contained in Arunachala - the unmoving Self.

>From Talks:

219. Ramakrishna Swami, a long-resident disciple, asked Maharshi the meaning of

Twaiyarunachala Sarvam, a stanza in The Five Hymns.

Maharshi explained it in detail, saying that the universe is like a painting on

a screen ­­ the screen being the Red Hill, Arunachala. That which rises and

sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is God

Arunachala. Meditating on Him or on the seer, the Self, there is a mental

vibration 'I' to which all are reduced. Tracing the source of 'I', the primal

'I - I' alone remains over, and it is inexpressible. The seat of Realisation is

within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is

bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart. The only

useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realise it. There is

nothing else to do. (from Talk nr. 219)