ईश्वर: सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति |
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया || 61||
īśhvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛid-deśhe ‘rjuna tiṣhṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
īśhvaraḥ—the Supreme Lord; sarva-bhūtānām—in all living being; hṛit-deśhe—in the hearts; arjuna—Arjun; tiṣhṭhati—dwells; bhrāmayan—causing to wander; sarva-bhūtāni—all living beings; yantra ārūḍhani—seated on a machine; māyayā—made of the material energy
Translation:
O Arjuna! the Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, causing all beings to revolve like puppets by His illusive power (Maya).
Commentary:
Where does the Lord dwell? How does His powers work? These questions are answered here. It is the most foolish delusion of man to think that the Lord is far away, somewhere in the remote sky, and at some such place where man cannot reach. This way of thinking has become a habit of mind for all mankind, except for a very few wise men, who know the secret. The Lord is not away from us. He is with us, in us right in our own heart. That is the Lord’s declaration. He dwells in the heart of all beings, and so one should be very careful in his thought and deeds. He sees all. He is the all-pervasive Atman. He is the dispenser of rewards and punishments for each and every being, according to his Punya and Papa Karma Therefore man should feel the presence of the Lord within and without and try his best to avoid evil and cling to the good only. People must follow the path of truth and righteousness, for, the Lord sees all by His invisible presence everywhere. The Lord’s declaration should inspire hope to the devotee. Where else is he to go to find the Lord who is present in his own heart?
The Lord is present everywhere, and most so in the heart of man. He should be worshipped as the nearest of the near and the dearest of the dear. Without any distinction whatsoever, he is in all beings. The vehicle of manifestation may be a small thing like an ant, or a big thing like an elephant. This does not make any difference at all for the Lord. He is equally present in all, in the sinner as well as in the saint. His presence is felt more where the heart is pure. The difference is only in the degree of manifestation. If the mirror is clear, the sun’s reflection is bright; if the mirror is unclear, the reflection is dim. This makes no difference at all to the Sun.
Yantraudhani: The illusive power of Maya works on all beings. They are moved by Maya in accordance with their own nature. They are like puppets mounted on a machine. As the wheel moves, all the beings move helplessly. They cannot get out of the wheel. The Jivas are bound to the wheel of Samsara, the cycle of birth and death, and rotate helplessly by the inscrutable power of Maya. In the next verse, the Lord points out the way to get out of the wheel. The way is to surrender to the Lord of Maya, who by His grace releases the Jiva from the endless cycle of Samsara.
Mayaya: Maya is the instrument of the Lord. The entire work of nature is carried on by Maya. The Lord, as the Atma, is only the witness to the activities of Maya.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
“The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive power causing all beings to revolve as though mounted on a potter’s wheel.” This has all happened before, like the throw of a dice, so it is in life; the wheel goes on and the same combination comes up; that pitcher and glass have stood there before, so, too, that onion and potato. What can we do, Madam, He has us on the wheel of life.[Source]
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
(To Pratap) “Let me tell you something. You are a learned and intelligent and serious-minded soul. Keshab and you were like the two brothers, Gaur and Nitai. You have had enough of lectures, arguments, quarrels, discussions, and dissensions. Can such things interest you any more? Now gather your whole mind and direct it to God. Plunge deep into God.”
PRATAP: “Yes, sir, you are right. That is surely my only duty now. But I am doing all these things only to perpetuate Keshab’s name.”
MASTER (with a smile): “No doubt you say now that you are doing all this to keep his name alive; but in a few days you won’t feel that way. Listen to a story. A man had built a house on a hill. It was only a mud hut, but he had built it with great labour. A few days after, there came a violent storm and the hut began to rock. The man became very anxious to save it and prayed to the god of the winds, ‘O god of the winds, please don’t wreck the house!’ But the god of the winds paid no heed to his prayer. The house was about to crash. Then he thought of a trick. He remembered that Hanuman man was the son of the god of the winds. At once he cried out with great earnestness: ‘O revered sir, please don’t pull down the house. It belongs to Hanuman. I beseech you to protect it.’ But still the house continued to shake violently. Nobody seemed to listen to his prayer. He repeated many times, ‘Oh, this house belongs to Hanuman!’ But the fury of the wind did not abate. Then he remembered that Hanuman was the devoted servant of Rama, whose younger brother was Lakshmana. Desperately the man prayed, crying aloud, ‘Oh, this house belongs to Lakshmana!’ But that also failed to help matters. So the man cried out as a last resort: ‘This is Rama’s house. Don’t break it down, O god of the winds! I beseech you most humbly.’ But this too proved futile, and the house began to crash down. Whereupon the man, who now had to save his own life, rushed out of it with the curse: ‘Let it go! This is the devil’s own hut!’
(To Pratap): “You don’t have to perpetuate Keshab’s name. Remember that he achieved all his success through the will of God. Through the divine will his work was established, and through the divine will it is disintegrating. What can you do about it? Now it is your bounden duty to give your entire mind to God, to plunge deep into the Ocean of His Love.”
Saying these words the Master sang in his sweet voice:
Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the Ocean of God’s Beauty;
If you descend to the uttermost depths,
There you will find the gem of Love.
Go seek, O mind, go seek Vrindavan in your heart,
Where with His loving devotees
Sri Krishna sports eternally.
Light up, O mind, light up true wisdom’s shining lamp,
And let it burn with steady flame
Unceasingly within your heart.
Who is it that steers your boat across the solid earth?
It is your guru, says Kubir;
Meditate on his holy feet.
The Master continued, addressing Pratap: “Did you listen to the song? You have had enough of lectures and quarrels. Now dive deep into the Ocean of God. There is no fear of death from plunging into this Ocean, for this is the Ocean of Immortality. Don’t think that this will make you lose your head. Never for a moment harbour the idea that by thinking too much of God one becomes insane. Once I said to Narendra —”
PRATAP: “Who is Narendra, sir?”
MASTER : “Oh, never mind. There is a young man of that name. I said to Narendra: ‘Look here, my boy. God is the Ocean of Bliss. Don’t you want to plunge into this Ocean? Suppose there is a cup of syrup and you are a fly. Where will you sit to sip the syrup?’ Narendra said, ‘I will sit on the edge of the cup and stick my head out to drink it.’ ‘Why?’ said I. ‘Why should you sit on the edge?’ He replied, ‘If I go far into the syrup, I shall be drowned and lose my life.’ Then I said to him: ‘But, my child, there is no such fear in the Ocean of Satchidananda. It is the Ocean, of Immortality. By plunging into It a man does not die; he becomes immortal. Man does not lose his consciousness by being mad about God.
(To the devotees) “The feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is ignorance. People say that Rani Rasmani built the Kali temple; but nobody says it was the work of God. They say that such and such a person established the Brahmo Samaj; but nobody says it was founded through the will of God. This feeling, ‘I am the doer’, is ignorance. On the contrary, the idea, ‘O God, Thou art the Doer and I am only an instrument; Thou art the Operator and I am the machine’, is Knowledge. After attaining Knowledge a man says: ‘O God, nothing belongs to me — neither this house of worship nor this Kali temple nor this Brahmo Samaj. These are all Thine. Wife, son, and family do not belong to me. They are all Thine.’
“To love these objects, regarding them as one’s own, is maya. But to love all things is daya, compassion. To love only the members of the Brahmo Samaj or of one’s own family is maya; to love one’s own countrymen is maya. But to love the people of all countries, to love the members of all religions, is daya. Such love comes from love of God, from daya.
“Maya entangles a man and turns him away from God. But through daya one realises God. Sages like Sukadeva and Narada always cherished daya in their hearts.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: Where does Iswara dwell?
Answer: In the heart of all beings.
Question: How does he work?
Answer: He revolves all beings in the great wheel of Samsara.
Question: How?
Answer: Like puppets mounted on a wheel.
Question: What is the secret power of the Lord?
Answer: Maya – the illusive power of the Lord.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18 
(78 Verses)
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 |
| 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 |
