In plain words
This whole universe is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings abide in Me, yet I am not confined in them.
Word for word
By Me, whose form is unmanifest, this whole world [is] pervaded; all beings abide in Me, and yet I [am] not abiding in them.
मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिनामत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
स्तुत्या अर्जुनमभिमुखीकृत्य आह —
मया मम यः परो भावः तेन ततं व्याप्तं सर्वम् इदं जगत् अव्यक्तमूर्तिना न व्यक्ता मूर्तिः स्वरूपं यस्य मम सोऽहमव्यक्तमूर्तिः तेन मया अव्यक्तमूर्तिना, करणागोचरस्वरूपेण इत्यर्थः । तस्मिन् मयि अव्यक्तमूर्तौ स्थितानि मत्स्थानि, सर्वभूतानि ब्रह्मादीनि स्तम्बपर्यन्तानि । न हि निरात्मकं किञ्चित् भूतं व्यवहाराय अवकल्पते । अतः मत्स्थानि मया आत्मना आत्मवत्त्वेन स्थितानि, अतः मयि स्थितानि इति उच्यन्ते । तेषां भूतानाम् अहमेव आत्मा इत्यतः तेषु स्थितः इति मूढबुद्धीनां अवभासते ; अतः ब्रवीमि — न च अहं तेषु भूतेषु अवस्थितः, मूर्तवत् संश्लेषाभावेन आकाशस्यापि अन्तरतमो हि अहम् । न हि असंसर्गि वस्तु क्वचित् आधेयभावेन अवस्थितं भवति ॥ ४ ॥
In plain words
Having turned Arjuna toward him with praise, he says —
'By Me' means by that supreme state of Mine, and it is by that alone that this whole world is spread out, filled through. 'In unmanifest form' means in a form that is never manifest at all — the very own nature that is Mine; that is 'I, of unmanifest form.' By that Me — by that nature beyond anything the senses could ever grasp — this is what it means. In Me, in this unmanifest form, every being rests — from Brahmā at the very top down to a single blade of grass — and that is what it means to be 'situated in Me.' Because nothing that has no underlying self could ever function in ordinary life at all. That is exactly why all beings rest in Me as their Self — situated in Me precisely by having Me as what they are, at the core. And because I alone am the Self of every being, it can look, to a confused mind, as though I must be sitting inside them. So let Me say this plainly: I do not literally dwell inside those beings. There is no physical contact involved, the way there is with solid things — I am, in truth, more inward than even space itself. Because nothing that has no real contact with something can ever be said to rest inside it.
Close to the Sanskrit
By praise, having made Arjuna face-toward, he says —
'By Me': by that supreme state of Mine — by that this whole world is extended, pervaded. 'In unmanifest form': my form is not manifest — that whose own nature is this is 'I who am of unmanifest form'; by that, by Me of unmanifest form, that is, by that whose nature is beyond the range of the sense-organs — this is the meaning. In Me, that unmanifest-formed one, all beings, from Brahmā down to a clump of grass, are situated — 'situated in Me.' For indeed nothing that lacks an underlying self is fit for ordinary transactional use. Therefore, beings are 'situated in Me' — situated by Me as their Self, in the manner of having a Self; hence they are said to be situated in Me. Of these beings I alone am the Self; hence it appears to the deluded-minded that 'I am situated in them' — therefore I say: I do not, however, dwell in those beings; since there is no contact as with a solid form, I am indeed the innermost even of space. For indeed no unconnected entity is ever established anywhere in the relation of being contained within something.