Bhagavad Gita BG 18.61
Chapter 18, Verse 61 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशे ऽर्जुन तिष्ठति । भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ॥
ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrT-deshe 'rjuna tishthati bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarUDhani mayaya
Meaning
The Lord dwells in the heart-region of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve by His Maya, as if mounted on a machine.
Understanding
One of the great cosmological-devotional verses: ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrT-deshe tishthati (the Lord stands/dwells in the heart of all beings). BhRamayan sarva-bhutani (causing all beings to revolve/wander — the Sanskrit root bhRam gives 'bhrama' meaning confusion/whirling). YantrarUDhani (mounted on a machine/yantra — the body-machine). Mayaya (by His Maya — the divine illusion/creative power). The image: all beings are like figures mounted on a great cosmic machine, spinning by divine Maya. And yet the LORD Himself stands at the heart, the still center within the spinning. This verse encapsulates the theistic vision: everything moves by Divine power; at the center of that movement is the still Lord in the heart.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ईश्वरः | ishvarah | the Lord, the divine ruler, the Personal God |
| हृद्देशे | hrT-deshe | in the heart-region, in the country of the heart |
| तिष्ठति | tishthati | stands, dwells, is stationed |
| भ्रामयन् | bhramayan | causing to revolve/wander, making to spin |
| यन्त्रारूढानि | yantrarUDhani | mounted on a machine/yantra (yantra = device, machine, instrument) |
| मायया | mayaya | by Maya (divine creative power/illusion) |
| ईश्वरः | īśvaraḥ | the Supreme Lord |
| सर्व-भूतानाम् | sarva-bhūtānām | of all beings |
| हृत्-देशे | hṛt-deśe | in the heart region |
| अर्जुन | arjuna | O Arjuna |
| तिष्ठति | tiṣṭhati | dwells, resides |
| भ्रामयन् | bhrāmayan | causing to wander |
| सर्व-भूतानि | sarva-bhūtāni | all beings |
| यन्त्र-आरूढानि | yantra-ārūḍhāni | mounted on a machine |
| मायया | māyayā | by illusion |