God Is Situated in Everyone's Heart - The Supreme Witness and Guide
Śrīla Prabhupāda extensively explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never far away from the living entity. By His inconceivable potency, the Lord expands as the Paramātmā (Supersoul) and sits within the core of everyone's heart. Understanding this dual nature of the Lord—as both the supreme controller in the spiritual sky and the localized guide within—is the key to recognizing His absolute supremacy and boundless compassion.
The Localized Supersoul
To manage the affairs of the material creation and accompany the conditioned souls, the Lord expands into His Paramātmā feature. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that this expansion resides in every single heart, witnessing the activities of all creatures without ever losing His supreme position.
- As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati: The Supreme Lord in His Paramatma feature lives within everyone's heart.
- God, in His Paramatma feature is sitting within everyone's heart - your heart, my heart, everyone's. You haven't got to find out God somewhere else. Therefore the yogis, they practice, "How to find out God within myself." That is called meditation.
- The original, complete feature of the Absolute Truth is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His plenary representation is Paramatma, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, who is situated in everyone's heart.
- The two words tasyai kasthayai are very significant. Everywhere, in every direction, in every heart and in every atom, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in His features as Brahman and Paramatma.
The Source of Memory and Knowledge
The living entity cannot act, remember, or understand anything independently. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that all cognitive functions are directly supplied by the Supreme Lord situated within, who perfectly facilitates the desires of the individual soul.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita (15.15): I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.
- The Lord says, "I am sitting in everyone's heart, and due to Me one is forgetful or one is alive in knowledge." The forgetfulness of the conditioned soul is also due to the direction of the Supreme Lord.
- In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said that all intelligence comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone's heart as the Paramatma.
- Because Brahma is the first living creature within this universe, he had no teacher; his teacher was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, who is seated in the heart of every living creature.
The Witness and Director of Activities
The material body is merely a vehicle, and the soul is the passenger. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the Lord sits alongside the soul, observing all past, present, and future activities, and sanctioning the soul's wanderings throughout the material universe.
- As stated in Bhagavad-gita (18.61): The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.
- God is situated in everyone's heart, and as one desires, the Lord gives one various types of bodies, which are like machines. Riding on such a machine, the living entity wanders throughout the universe, under the control of material nature and its modes.
- The all-merciful Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart as the witness, the Supersoul, awakens him (the individual soul) and reminds him of his past desires, and thus he begins to act accordingly in his next life.
- The Lord, as the Supersoul residing in everyone's heart and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world far beyond the material creation, is the seer of all our activities.
The Supreme Friend of the Devotee
For those who sincerely wish to revive their spiritual consciousness, the Lord acts as the internal spiritual master, or caitya-guru. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Lord takes special care of His devotees, personally guiding them from within and cleansing their hearts.
- The Lord is the Supersoul seated in everyone's heart, and He acts as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. However, He gives direct instructions only to the advanced, pure devotees.
- When one engages in devotional service in the first stages of hearing and chanting, the Lord, who is in everyone's heart, helps the devotee in cleansing his heart.
- If he (the living entity) places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone's heart, dictates how to serve Him - dadami buddhi-yogam tam.
- The devotees of the Lord (Krsna) are always in the heart of the Lord, and the Lord is always in the hearts of the devotees. That is the sweet relation between the Lord and His devotees.
Distinguishing the Lord from the Living Entity
Although the Supreme Lord resides in every heart, this proximity does not erase the distinction between God and the minute soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly refutes the impersonalist idea that because God is everywhere, every living entity is equal to God.
- Harih sarvesu bhutesu. This statement is sometimes misunderstood by unscrupulous persons who wrongly conclude that because Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is situated in every living entity, every living entity is therefore Hari.
- When it is said that Narayana, the Supreme Being, is situated in everyone's heart, this does not mean that everyone has become Narayana or that a particular poor man has become Narayana. Such a conclusion is rejected herein.
- The Lord is situated in everyone's heart and the individual living entity is not, never should the individual living entity be equated with the Supreme Lord.
- Lord Visnu and Laksmi are always situated in everyone's heart, but this does not mean that everyone is Narayana, especially not those in poverty. This is a most abominable term to use in connection with Narayana.
Conclusion
A deep understanding of the Paramātmā feature completely transforms one's vision of the world. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never an absentee creator; rather, He is intimately involved in the journey of every living entity, situated within their very hearts as the supreme friend and witness. He impartially awards the results of karma, supplying the required intelligence and memory for material pursuits, while eagerly waiting for the soul to turn back to Him. A sincere soul who realizes this truth abandons all material anxieties, understanding that the supreme protector is situated right within their own heart, ready to guide them back to His eternal, spiritual kingdom. By regularly chanting the holy names and hearing about the Lord, the dirt of material existence is cleansed from the heart, allowing the soul to perfectly hear the inner dictation of the supreme guide.
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