Gita 18.61
Moksha Sanyasa Yoga
ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति | भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ||६१||
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati | bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā ||61||
In essence: The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing them to revolve by maya as if mounted on a machine.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "This verse seems to say we're puppets. If the Lord is controlling everything, where's our responsibility?"
Guru: "The verse describes the cosmic perspective, not to deny responsibility but to reveal true agency. The ego-self isn't the real agent anyway—it imagines it's choosing while being moved by prakriti and past karma. Real freedom comes from aligning with the Ishvara within, not from asserting ego-autonomy."
Sadhak: "'Yantrarudhani'—mounted on a machine. This image is disturbing. Am I just a mechanism?"
Guru: "The body-mind is the yantra, the mechanism. The ego identifies with this machine and thinks it's acting freely while being driven by conditioning. But YOU—the consciousness that witnesses this—are not the machine. You are that very Ishvara dwelling within. The teaching isn't that you're a puppet; it's that what you thought was 'you' (the ego-doer) is the puppet. The real you is the puppeteer."
Sadhak: "'Maya' makes beings revolve. Is maya evil? Why would the Lord use illusion?"
Guru: "Maya isn't evil—it's the creative power of the Lord, the means by which infinite consciousness appears as finite forms. Maya is problematic only when we're deluded by it, taking appearances as ultimate reality. The Lord 'uses' maya to manifest the cosmic play; awakening means seeing through maya to the Lord within."
Sadhak: "If the Lord is in everyone's heart, why do people do terrible things?"
Guru: "The Lord dwells within but doesn't override the mind's conditioning. Free will operates through accumulated tendencies—prakriti and past karma. The Lord witnesses, supports existence, but doesn't puppeteer individual choices. Evil happens through beings ignoring the divine presence within, acting from ego-delusion rather than inner guidance."
Sadhak: "How does knowing this help me practically?"
Guru: "It shifts the foundation of your life. Instead of trying to control outcomes through ego-will, you align with the Lord within. Instead of fighting against the machine of life, you discover the operator is divine. Instead of feeling isolated and overwhelmed, you recognize your deepest Self is the same Lord who dwells in all. This is liberation while living."
Did this resonate with you? Share it with someone who needs to hear this.
🌅 Daily Practice
Begin with awareness: 'The Lord dwells in my heart right now. The same Lord who moves the cosmos is present at my center.' Let this recognition inform your day—you carry the divine everywhere you go.
When you feel like a puppet of circumstances—driven by reactions, compelled by habits, overwhelmed by events—remember the verse. Yes, the machine of body-mind is being operated. But the operator is divine. Can you align with the inner Lord rather than fighting from ego-resistance?
Before sleep, consciously turn attention to the 'hrid-desha'—the heart region. Rest in the awareness: 'Ishvara is here. The Lord who dwells in all beings dwells in me. I am not the machine; I am that which animates it.' Let this recognition be your doorway into rest.