God Is The Witness - The Paramātmā in the Heart
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that it is a foolish illusion to believe we can act in secret. The Vedic literatures reveal that no one is ever truly alone; the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly accompanies the living entity as the Paramātmā. In this localized feature, the Lord acts as the supreme witness, neutrally observing and perfectly recording every desire and action.
The Two Birds in the Tree
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the intricate relationship between the individual soul and the Supreme Lord through a famous analogy from the Vedic literatures. Within the tree of the material body reside two friendly birds: the infinitesimal jīva soul and the Supreme Soul, the Paramātmā.
- The living entity and the Supreme Person as Paramatma, both of them are sitting in this body. That is explained in the Upanisad as two birds are sitting in the same tree. One bird is eating, and one bird is witnessing.
- Two birds are sitting in one tree. So one bird is witnessing. The witnessing bird is the Paramatma, antaryami. He is looking after all your activities, witness.
- The individual soul works and enjoys the fruits of the body, whereas the Supersoul simply witnesses the activities of the individual soul but does not enjoy the fruits of those activities.
- In the Vedic literatures (sruti) it is said that there are two birds in one tree. One of them is eating the fruit of the tree, while the other is witnessing the actions. The witness is the Lord, and the fruit-eater is the living entity.
Upadraṣṭā and Anumantā
The Supreme Lord is not a passive observer; He is the supreme director. As the localized Supersoul in the heart, He is the ultimate overseer (upadraṣṭā) and the ultimate sanctioner (anumantā) of all the living entity's desires and actions.
- One cannot act without His sanction, for the Supersoul is upadrasta and anumanta, the witness and sanctioner.
- As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (18.61), isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated within the heart as Paramatma. He witnesses the activities of the living entities and gives them permission to act.
- The living entity is also ksetrajna, but the supreme ksetrajna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the witness and order giver. Under His direction, everything takes place.
- The jivatma is enjoying or suffering by eating the fruits of the bodily activities, but the Paramatma, who is free from such bondage, witnesses and sanctions the activities of the individual soul as the individual soul desires.
The Infallible Record of Karma
Because the living entity changes bodies, they forget their past deeds. However, the Supreme Lord never forgets. Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that it is impossible to hide any sinful or pious act from the vigilant eyes of the Supreme Lord, who perfectly awards the results of our karma.
- After changing bodies, the living entity forgets his past deeds, but the Supersoul, as the knower of the past, present and future, remains the witness of all his activities.
- We cannot hide anything from Him, and we receive the results of our karma because the witness is Krsna Himself within the heart. How, then, can we avoid Him? Without Krsna's permission, we cannot do anything.
- At night the moon is there. There are so many witnesses. And the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also witnessing within. You cannot escape. He's witnessing from inside, from outside. So how you'll escape your sinful activities? No. That is not possible.
- One should not think that he is freed from reaction because he has forgotten the actions of his past life. Reactions will take place, and what kind of reactions there will be is judged by the Supersoul, the witness.
The Supreme Solace and Aloofness
Even while intimately witnessing every material action and the dissolution of the entire cosmic manifestation, the Supreme Lord remains completely unaffected. He is the original cause, the neutral observer, and the ultimate protector for those who surrender to Him.
- Again, when the cosmic manifestation is annihilated, it rests in Him (the Surpeme Personality of Godhead). Nonetheless, He is infallibly the supreme observer. Under any circumstances, the Supreme Lord is changeless. He is simply a witness and is aloof from all creation and annihilation.
- The Supreme Lord is the witness as well as the living force, yet He is transcendental to all material qualities.
- He is both the supreme cause and the supreme result, the observer and the witness, in all circumstances. Thus He is transcendental to everything. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection.
- Indeed, You are the original element. You are the witness of all activities, but because You are as great as the sky, You are never touched by any of them. You are the witness of everything as Parabrahman and Paramatma. O Supreme Personality of Godhead, nothing is unknown to You.
Conclusion
Conditioned souls often operate under the illusion that they can act in secret. Śrīla Prabhupāda shatters this misconception by establishing that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the ultimate witness residing within the core of everyone's heart. As the Paramātmā, He acts as the neutral observer (upadraṣṭā) and the ultimate sanctioner (anumantā) of all activities. Like two birds in a tree, the minute jīva soul is busy trying to enjoy the bitter and sweet fruits of the material body, while the Lord patiently watches, records, and sanctions these attempts. Because the Lord is the supreme witness, there is an infallible ledger of our karma; no sinful or pious deed goes unnoticed, and every reaction is perfectly awarded. Yet, despite being the intimate witness to every material action and cosmic annihilation, the Lord remains completely aloof, transcendental, and uncontaminated. True wisdom arises when the living entity realizes they are constantly in the presence of the Lord, abandons their independent fruitive activities, and turns to serve the supreme witness with unalloyed devotion.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God Is The Witness. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.