ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति ।
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ॥
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe’rjuna tiṣṭhati |
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.61)
“O Arjuna, the Īśvara of all entities dwells in the region of the heart and with his māyā causes all entities to move mounted on an apparatus.”
Commentary
tad evaṁ śloka-dvayena sāṅkhyādi-mate prakṛti-pāratantryaṁ svabhāva-pāratantryaṁ coktam, idānīṁ sva-matam āha—īśvara iti dvābhyām | sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛn-madhye īśvaro’ntaryāmī tiṣṭhati | kiṁ kurvan? sarvāṇi bhūtāni māyayā nija-śaktyā bhrāmayaṁs tat-tat-karmasu pravartayan, yathā dāru-yantram ārūḍhāni kṛtrimāni bhūtāni sūtradhāro loke bhrāmayati tadvad ity arthaḥ | yad vā, yantrāṇi śarīrāṇi ārūḍhāni bhūtāni dehābhimānino jīvān bhramayann ity arthaḥ | tathā ca śvetāśvatārāṇāṁ mantraḥ—‘eko devaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu gūḍhaḥ sarva-vyāpī sarva-bhūtāntarātmā | karmādhyakṣaḥ sarva-bhūtādhivāsaḥ sākṣī cetā kevalo nirguṇaś ca ||’ iti | antaryāmi-brāhmaṇaṁ ca—‘ya ātmani tiṣṭhan, ātmāna antaro, yam ātmā na veda, yasya ātmā śarīram, ya ātmānam antaro yamayati, eṣa ta ātmāntaryāmy amṛtaḥ ||’ ity-ādi |
(Subodhinī-ṭīkā)
“Thus, having in this way described with two verses [an embodied entity’s] dependence upon prakṛti and dependence upon disposition (svabhāva) in accord with the view of Sāṅkhya and so forth, he now states his own view with two [verses]: Īśvaraḥ … [i.e., he speaks BG 18.61–62]. Īśvara, the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), dwells inside the hearts of all entities. Doing what? Causing all entities to move, that is, engaging [them] in their respective karmas, with his māyā, that is, with his own potency, just as a stage-manager causes manufactured entities [i.e., puppets] mounted on a wooden apparatus to move in space. This is the meaning. Alternately, the meaning is that he causes entities mounted upon bodies, that is, jīvas possessed of a sense of identity based on a body, to move. Similarly, there is also a mantra in the Śvetāśvatara [Upaniṣad](6.11), ‘The one Deva is hidden in all entities, all-pervading, the Inner Self of all entities, the Overseer of karma, the Abode of all entities, the Witness, the Consciousness [i.e., the cause of consciousness in all beings], the Absolute, and beyond the guṇas,’ and [the statement] in the Antaryāmi-brāhmaṇa [in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (3.7)]: ‘He who dwells in the self, [who] is inside the self, whom the self does not know, whose body is the self, and who regulates the self from inside is the self’s Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), the Immortal One.’”
śloka-dvayena svabhāva-vādināṁ matam uktvā sva-matam āha—īśvaro nārāyaṇaḥ sarvāntaryāmī ‘yaḥ pṛthivyāṁ tiṣṭhan pṛthivyā antaro, yaṁ pṛthivī na veda, yasya pṛthivī śarīraṁ, yaḥ pṛthivīm antaro yamayati’ iti | ‘yac ca kiñcij jagaty asmin dṛśyate śrūyate’pi vā | antar bahiś ca tat sarvaṁ vyāpya nārāyaṇaḥ sthitaḥ’ || ity-ādi-śruti-pratipādita īśvaro’ntaryāmī hṛdi tiṣṭhati | kiṁ kurvan? sarvāṇi bhūtāni māyayā nija-śaktyā bhrāmayan bhramayan tat-tat-karmāṇi pravartayan, yathā sūtra-sañcārādi-yantram ārūḍhāni kṛtrimāṇi pāñcālikā-rūpāṇi sarva-bhūtāni māyāvī bhramayati, tadvad ity arthaḥ | yad vā, yantrārūḍhāni śarīrārūḍhān sarva-jīvān ity arthaḥ |
(Sārārtha-varṣinī-ṭīkā)
“Having described with two verses the view of the proponents of svabhāvavāda [i.e., the theory that the svabhāva, i.e., the disposition of an embodied being formed by the saṁskāras created by that being’s past karma, is the fundamental cause of everything], he states his own view: Īśvara, that is, Nārāyaṇa, is the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) of all. As established in the Śruti [i.e., Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (3.7.3)], ‘‘He who dwells in the earth, [who] is inside the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body is the earth, and who regulates the earth from inside … [is the earth’s Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), the Immortal One],’ and [in Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (13.5)], ‘Anything which is observable or even heard of in this world, and [which is] inside and outside [of it]—Nārāyaṇa is present pervading all of that,’ Īśvara, the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), is present in the heart. Doing what? Causing all entities to move (bhrāmayan), that is, engaging [them] in their respective karmas, with his māyā, that is, with his own potency. As a magician causes all entities in the forms of manufactured puppets mounted on an apparatus with moving strings or otherwise to move, so … [i.e., so Īśvara causes all entities to move as though mounted on such an apparatus]. This is the meaning. Alternately, the meaning of [him causing all entities] mounted on an apparatus [to move] is that [he causes] all jīvas mounted on [their] bodies [to move].”
vijñātṛtvābhimānam ivālakṣyārjunam atyājyatvād vidhāntareṇopadiśati—īśvara iti dvābhyām | he arjuna tvaṁ cet svaṁ vijñaṁ manyase, tarhy antaryāmi-brāhmaṇāt tvayā jñāto ya īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ brahmādi-sthāvarāntānāṁ hṛd-deśe tiṣṭhati māyayā sva-śaktyā tāni bhrāmayan san | sarva-bhūtāni viśinaṣṭi—yantreti | yat karmānuguṇaṁ māyā-nirmitaṁ dehendriya-prāṇa-lakṣaṇaṁ yantraṁ tad-ārūḍhāni | rūpakeṇopamātra vyajyate—yathā sūtradhāro dāru-yantrārūḍhāni kṛtrimāṇi bhūtāni bhrāmayati tadvat |
(Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā)
“Observing Arjuna to be as though possessed of the conceit of being a wise knower, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] instructs [Arjuna] with two [verses] in a different manner because of [that conceit] being unable to be given up: Īśvaraḥ … [i.e., he speaks BG 18.61–62]. O Arjuna, if you consider yourself wise [i.e., capable of wisely knowing independently], then [consider that] Īśvara, who is known by you from the Antaryāmi-brāhmaṇā [section of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (3.7)], dwells in the region of the heart of all entities from Brahmā and so forth down to the immobile and with his māyā, that is, with his own potency (śakti), causes them all to move. He [i.e., the speaker, Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes all entities: yantra … [they are] mounted on the apparatus the form of which is the body, senses, and prāṇas constructed by māyā according to [their] karma. An comparison by means of a metaphor is suggested here: as a stage-manager causes manufactured entities [i.e., puppets] mounted on a wooden apparatus to move, so … [i.e., so Īśvara causes all entities mounted on the apparatus of their bodies, senses, and prāṇas to move in accord with their karma].”