Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.26

antar bahiś cākhila-loka-pālakair

adṛṣṭa-rūpo vicarasy uru-svanaḥ

sa īśvaras tvaḿ ya idaḿ vaśe 'nayan

nāmnā yathā dārumayīḿ naraḥ striyam

SYNONYMS

antaḥ — within; bahiḥ — without; ca — also; akhila-loka-pālakaiḥ — by the leaders of the different planets, societies, kingdoms and so on; adṛṣṭa-rūpaḥ — not seen; vicarasi — You wander; uru — very great; svanaḥ — whose sounds (Vedic mantras); saḥ — He; īśvaraḥ — the supreme controller; tvam — You; yaḥ — who; idam — this; vaśe — under control; anayat — has brought; nāmnā — by different names like brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra; yathā — exactly like; dārumayīm — made of wood; naraḥ — a man; striyam — a doll.

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, just as a puppeteer controls his dancing dolls and a husband controls his wife, Your Lordship controls all the living entities in the universe, such as the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. Although You are in everyone's heart as the supreme witness and commander and are outside everyone as well, the so-called leaders of societies, communities and countries cannot realize You. Only those who hear the vibration of the Vedic mantras can appreciate You.

PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is antarbahiḥ, present within and without everything. One must overcome the delusion caused by the Lord's external energy and realize His presence both externally and internally. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.8.19) Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī has explained that Kṛṣṇa appears in this world naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā, "exactly like an actor dressed as a player." In Bhagavad-gītā (18.61) Kṛṣṇa says, īśvaraḥ sama-bhūtānāḿ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati: "The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna." The Lord is situated within everyone's heart, and outside as well. Within the heart He is the Supersoul, the incarnation who acts as the adviser and witness. Yet although God is residing within their hearts, foolish people say, "I cannot see God. Please show Him to me."

Everyone is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly like dancing dolls controlled by a puppeteer or a woman controlled by her husband. A woman is compared to a doll (dārumayī) because she has no independence. She should always be controlled by a man. Still, due to false prestige, a class of women wants to remain independent. What to speak of women, all living entities are prakṛti (female) and therefore dependent on the Supreme Lord, as Kṛṣṇa Himself explains in Bhagavad-gītā (apareyam itas tv anyāḿ prakṛtiḿ viddhi me parām). The living entity is never independent. Under all circumstances, he is dependent on the mercy of the Lord. The Lord creates the social divisions of human society — brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras — and ordains that they follow rules and regulations suited to their particular position. In this way, all members of society remain always under the Supreme Lord's control. Still, some people foolishly deny the existence of God.

Self-realization means to understand one's subordinate position in relation to the Lord. When one is thus enlightened, he surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is liberated from the clutches of the material energy. In other words, unless one surrenders to the lotus feet of the Lord, the material energy in its many varieties will continue to control him. No one in the material world can deny that he is under control. The Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, who is beyond this material existence, controls everyone. The following Vedic mantra confirms this point: eko ha vai nārāyaṇa āsīt. Foolish persons think Nārāyaṇa to be on the platform of ordinary material existence. Because they do not realize the natural constitutional position of the living entity, they concoct names like daridra-nārāyaṇa, svāmi-nārāyaṇa or mithyā-nārāyaṇa. However, Nārāyaṇa is actually the supreme controller of everyone. This understanding is self-realization.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness