Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Verse 14

English Translation

That (Knowable), which has hands and feet everwhere, which has eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, which has ears everywhere, exists in creatures by pervading them all.

Detailed Commentary

*Sarvataḥ Pāṇipādaṁ Tat* (With hands and feet everywhere) – Just as all types of scripts are contained within ink, allowing a writer to write any script with it, and all types of ornaments are contained within gold, allowing a goldsmith to make any ornament from any part of it, similarly, the Lord has hands and feet everywhere. Wherever a devotee, with their *bhakti*, wishes to offer anything into the hands of the Lord, the Lord's hands are present there to accept it. Whether the devotee wishes to offer from outside or from the mind, in the east or in the west, in the north or in the south, the Lord's hands are present right there to accept it. Whether in water, on land, in fire, or in any distress, when the devotee calls out to the Lord, the Lord's hands are ready at that very spot for their protection; that is, the Lord protects them right there. Wherever a devotee wishes to apply *chandana* (sandalwood paste) on the Lord's feet, offer flowers, or bow down, the Lord's feet are present there. If thousands of devotees wish to worship the Lord's feet simultaneously, the Lord's feet are present right there according to their *bhāva* (devotional feeling). *Sarvato'kṣiśiromukham* (With eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere) – Wherever a devotee shows a lamp to the Lord or performs *Āratī*, the Lord's eyes are present there. Wherever a devotee dances, whether with the body or in the mind, the Lord sees their dance. The implication is that for one who sees the Lord everywhere, the Lord is never out of their sight (Gita 6.30). Wherever a devotee wishes to apply *chandana* or offer flowers on the Lord's head, the Lord's head is present there. Wherever a devotee wishes to offer *bhog* (food offering) to the Lord, the Lord's mouth is present there; that is, the Lord partakes of the offering given by the devotee with devotion right there (Gita 9.26). *Sarvataḥśrutimat* (With ears everywhere) – Wherever a devotee prays, whether loudly, softly, or mentally, the Lord hears it with His ears. Humans do not have all their limbs everywhere; for instance, where there are eyes, there are no ears, and where there are ears, there are no eyes; where there are hands, there are no feet, and where there are feet, there are no hands, and so on. But the Lord's senses and His limbs are present everywhere. Therefore, the Lord can hear with His eyes, speak, accept offerings, etc. The meaning is that He can perform all actions with all His limbs because all limbs are present within each of His limbs. Even in His smallest part, all senses are present. The implication of stating that the Lord has hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth, and ears everywhere is that the Lord is not far from any being. The reason is that the Lord is perfectly present in all space, time, objects, individuals, events, circumstances, and so on. Saints have said: "In all directions, there is *Āratī*, in all directions, there is worship. In all directions, there is Rāma, and no other." Just as a worldly person sees the world everywhere—outside, inside, above, below—similarly, a person who knows the *Paramātman* (Supreme Self) in essence sees the *Paramātman* everywhere. *Loke Sarvamāvṛtya Tiṣṭhati* (He pervades all in the world and exists) – There are infinite creations, infinite universes, infinite glories (*aiśvarya*), and within all of them, space, time, objects, individuals, etc., are also infinite; all of these are encompassed within *Paramātman*. *Paramātman* pervades and resides within them. In the forty-second verse of the tenth chapter also, the Lord has said, "I pervade and am established in the entire universe with a single fraction of Myself." **Connection:** After describing the *saguṇa nirākār* (formless Brahman with attributes) in the previous verse, the next three verses describe its uniqueness, omnipresence, and omnipotence.