Verse 18.61
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति | भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ||६१||
Transliteration (IAST)
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati | bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā ||61||
Word-by-Word Meanings
īśvaraḥ-the Lord
sarva-bhūtānām-of all beings
hṛd-deśe-in the region of the heart
tiṣṭhati-dwells
bhrāmayan-causing to revolve
yantra-ārūḍhāni-mounted on a machine
māyayā-by Maya/illusion
Translation
The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve by His Maya, as if mounted on a machine.
Commentary
This key verse reveals God's immanence in all creation. Shankaracharya explains that the Lord as the inner controller (antaryamin) directs all beings through the mechanism of prakriti. The 'machine' (yantra) metaphor suggests the body-mind complex driven by karmic forces. Ramanuja sees this as the supreme statement of God's sovereignty - He is the ultimate mover of all action.
Themes
atmanbhaktikarmasurrender