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Ch 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 61: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 18.61Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh
ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद् देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति ।
भ्रामयन् सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ॥
īśvaraḥ← īśvara(9 verses)nominative masculine singular nounthe Lord, controller, Godattested in commentariesadvaitaईशनशीलः नारायणः सर्वभूतानां सर्वप्राणिनां हृद्देशे हृदयदेशे अर्जुन शुक्लान्तरात्मस्वभावः विशुद्धान्तःकरणः -- अहश्च कृष्viśiṣṭādvaitaसर्वनियमनशीलो वासुदेवः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशे सकलप्रवृत्तिनिवृत्तिमूलज्ञानोदये देशे तिष्ठतिśuddhādvaitaसर्वनियमनशीलो वासुदेवः सर्वेषां प्राकृतानां भूतानां लीलयोच्चनीचभावेन स्वात्मना सृष्टानां प्रकृत्या संसृष्टानां आब्रह्मस sarva← sarva(138 verses)compound (compound member)all, entirebhūtānāṃ← bhūta(67 verses)genitive neuter plural nounbeing, creature; element; past, gone hṛd← hṛd(5 verses)compound (compound member)heartdeśe← deśa(5 verses)locative masculine singular nounplace, region, country'rjuna tiṣṭhati← √sthā(27 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto stand, remain (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaस्थितिं लभतेviśiṣṭādvaita। कथं किं कुर्वन् तिष्ठति यन्त्रारूढानि सर्वभूतानि मायया भ्रामयन् स्वेन एव निर्मितं देहेन्द्रियावस्थप्रकृत्याख्यं यन्त्रśuddhādvaita। तत्रान्तर्यामिस्वरूपेण स्थितोऽपि निर्लेप इत्याशयेनेश्वर इत्युक्तम्। उपाधिस्थाने स्थितस्य तदसंस्पृष्टत्वमीश्वरत्वादित्यbhakti। किं कुर्वन् सर्वाणि भूतानि मायया निजशक्त्या भ्रामयन् तत्तत्कर्मसु प्रवर्तयन् यथा दारुयन्त्रमारूढानि कृत्रिमाणि भूतानिadvaita-bhaktiसर्वव्यापकोऽपि तत्राभिव्यज्यते सप्तद्वीपाधिपतिरिव राम उत्तरकोसलेषु
bhrāmayan← √bhrāmaynominative masculine singular present participle verbto whirl, cause to wander (caus. of √bhram)attested in commentariesadvaitaभ्रमणं कारयन् सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि यन्त्राणि आरूढानि अधिष्ठितानि इव -- इति इवशब्दः अत्र द्रष्टव्यः -- यथा दारुकृतपुviśiṣṭādvaitaस्वेन एव निर्मितं देहेन्द्रियावस्थप्रकृत्याख्यं यन्त्रम् आरूढानि सर्वभूतानि स्वकीयया सत्त्वादिगुणमय्या मायया गुणानुगुणंśuddhādvaitaभवति। भ्रामणं हि प्रेरणं, यन्त्रं च स्वनिर्मितं देहेन्द्रियादिरूपं, तत्रारूढांश्चेतनांस्तद्गुणानुगुण्येन प्रवर्त्तयंस्तbhaktiतत्तत्कर्मसु प्रवर्तयन् यथा दारुयन्त्रमारूढानि कृत्रिमाणि भूतानि सूत्रधारो लोके भ्रामयति तद्वदित्यर्थः sarva← sarva(138 verses)compound (compound member)all, entirebhūtāni← bhūta(67 verses)accusative neuter plural nounbeing, creature; element; past, goneattested in commentariesadvaitaभ्रामयन्नेव हृदये तिष्ठतीत्यर्थःbhaktiमायया निजशक्त्या भ्रामयन् तत्तत्कर्मसु प्रवर्तयन् यथा दारुयन्त्रमारूढानि कृत्रिमाणि भूतानि सूत्रधारो लोके भ्रामयति तद्व yantr← yantracompound (compound member)instrument, machine, device (from √yam)attested in commentariesviśiṣṭādvaitaइत्यादिभ्रामयन् इत्यन्तमेकं वाक्यं प्रश्नवाक्यादाकृष्टेन तिष्ठतिनाऽन्वेतव्यम्ārūḍhāni← √āruh(3 verses)accusative neuter plural participle nounto ascend, mount (ā- + √ruh) māyayā← māyā(6 verses)instrumental feminine singular nounillusion, the cosmic illusory powerattested in commentariesadvaitaच्छद्मना भ्रामयन् तिष्ठति इति संबन्धःviśiṣṭādvaitaभ्रामयन् स्वेनśuddhādvaitaभ्रामयन् भवतिbhaktiनिजशक्त्या भ्रामयन् तत्तत्कर्मसु प्रवर्तयन् यथा दारुयन्त्रमारूढानि कृत्रिमाणि भूतानि सूत्रधारो लोके भ्रामयति तद्वदित्यरadvaita-bhaktiछद्मना यन्त्रारूढानीव सूत्रसंचारादियन्त्रमारूढानि दारुनिर्मितपुरुषादीन्यत्यन्तपरतन्त्राणि यथा मायावी भ्रामयति तद्वदित्य
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

God stands in the heart of every creature, Arjuna, and by his power spins them all like figures mounted on a wheel.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Sankara reads 'isvarah' (the one whose nature is governance) as Narayana, the pure inner self (sukladantaratman), who stands (tisthati) in the hrdaya-desa of all beings — not as a separate personal agent but as the ground-consciousness that makes governance possible. The beings are like wooden puppets (darukrtapurusadini) mounted on a machine; the word 'iva' (as if) is crucial: the bhramana is appearance, not independent causal action. Maya here means concealment (chadmana) — the Lord's standing does not compromise non-duality; it is the one Reality appearing as diversity through its own obscuring power.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Ramanuja reads 'isvara' as Vasudeva, the all-regulator (sarvaniyamanasila), who stands in the hrdaya-desa as the very site where all impulse toward action or withdrawal arises. The yantra is the body-sense-complex that Isvara himself fashioned; beings are mounted on it and driven according to the qualities (sattva-adi) of his own maya. This is not domination from outside but inner superintendence: BG 15.15 'sarvasyaham hrdi sannivistah' and the Antaryami-brahmana confirm the same teaching — the Lord is the indwelling soul of every soul, distinct from them and sustaining them at every moment.

  • Madhvadvaita

    *Īśvara* (the Lord, *svatantra* by nature) stands in the *hṛddeśa* — the heart-seat — of *sarvabhūtānāni*, every being. He is not merely present there as a witness at a distance; he is the real, distinct, inner controller whose presence is ontologically prior to the *jīva* that houses him. The *pañca-bheda* holds without collapse: Lord and *jīva* remain genuinely distinct even in this innermost intimacy. The *yantrārūḍhāni* image is exact for Dvaita: beings are mounted on a machine (*yantra*) they did not build and cannot drive. The machine spins by *māyā* — here Viṣṇu's own sovereign power, not an impersonal screen, not a shared metaphysical confusion, but the Lord's *acintya-śakti* (inconceivable power) by which he adjudicates *karma* and moves each *jīva* according to *taratamya* (graded ontological hierarchy). The *jīva*'s *paratantra* constitution is confirmed structurally: *bhrāmayan* names Hari as the sole mover; the *jīva* is moved, never self-moved. The *hṛddeśa*-station is Hari's real presence inside the *jīva*, not a metaphor for an undifferentiated ground. He does not dissolve into the *jīva*, nor the *jīva* into him. *Bhakti* as ontological subordination begins precisely here: recognizing that the one who moves you from within is *svatantra* Hari, the *jīva*'s only refuge.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha reads the verse as the Brahma-sutra siddhanta stated plainly: Vasudeva, sportively (lilaya) creating all beings from highest to grass-blade (a-brahma-stamba), stands in the hrdaya-akasa as antaryamin — yet remains untouched (nirlepa), like space (akasavat-sarvagata). The yantra is the body-sense complex he himself constructed; maya is not illusion but his own creative sakti driving each being according to its own nature. His self-luminosity (svayamprakasa, pradipavat) means the spinning is itself his lila, not a burden he bears — the controller is never entangled in what he controls.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Sridhara Svami, after surveying Sankhya and Svabhava accounts of dependence, declares: 'now I state my own view (svamatamaah).' Isvara as antaryamin stands in every heart and drives all beings to their respective actions the way a puppeteer (sutradharah) moves wooden figures — or, alternatively, the yantra is the body itself on which the jiva-as-atman rides. The Svetasvatara Upanisad ('eko devah sarvabhutesu gudhah') and the Antaryami-brahmana are cited as corroboration. Bhakti to this indwelling Lord is the one movement that aligns the jiva's motion with the mover.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusudana opens by naming the verse's pivot: having stated dependence on svabhava, Krsna now reveals dependence on Isvara. Narayana stands in the antahkarana of every being, made manifest there as a king is manifest in his capital though he pervades the kingdom (Rama in Uttara-Kosala). The address 'Arjuna' signals: only one with a purified inner organ (suddha-antahkarana, 'sukla') can truly grasp this. Beings are 'atyanta-paratantra' — not loosely dependent but utterly so, like carved figures (daru-nirmita-purusadini) on a puppet-rig driven by maya. Madhusudana holds both registers: metaphysically the mover is the non-dual ground; devotionally he is Narayana whom Arjuna can love and surrender to in the very next verse.

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