na cha mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśhya me yogam aiśhwaram
bhūta-bhṛin na cha bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ
na — never;
cha — and;
mat-sthāni — abide in me;
bhūtāni — all living beings;
paśhya — behold;
me — my;
yogam aiśhwaram — divine energy;
bhūta-bhṛit — the sustainer of all living beings;
na — never;
cha — yet;
bhūta-sthaḥ — dwelling in;
mama — my;
ātmā — self;
bhūta-bhāvanaḥ — the creator of all beings
In this verse, the Lord is explaining something profound about His nature and the universe. He’s saying that everything that exists — all living things, the planets, and everything else — relies on Him. However, this doesn’t mean that He is physically holding up or directly involved in every little thing that happens in the world.
To understand this better, imagine a very strong, wise person who helps everyone around them but doesn’t have to carry them on their back like an overworked laborer. When we think of someone trying to support the whole world, we might picture a figure like Atlas, who carries the weight of the earth on his shoulders. This image can make it seem like the Supreme Lord is heavily burdened and struggling to maintain everything. However, that’s not true. The Lord explains that He maintains all living beings, but in a way that keeps Him separate from the struggles and chaos of the material world.
He uses a powerful energy to sustain and create everything, but this energy is not Him directly. It’s more like how you can eat food to provide energy for your body, but the food itself isn’t you. In the same way, everything that exists operates under the influence of the Supreme Lord's energy, but He Himself remains above and beyond it.
Furthermore, the Lord is present everywhere, but that doesn't mean He is mixed up or entangled with everything. Just like space exists all around us but isn’t part of any object within it, the Lord’s presence is similar. He occupies a different position than the things that exist in this universe.
So, the key takeaway is that while everything in the universe depends on the Lord's energy and creative power, He is not directly involved in the daily happenings and issues of the world. He remains detached from it all, demonstrating His unique position as the Supreme Being. This idea highlights His incredible power and the way He governs the universe without being part of it. This is what makes Him extraordinarily great.