Paramatma - Director of the Wanderings of the Living Entity

 

The living entity, having misused his free will and being desirous of enjoying separate from the Lord, has come into this material world. Here he is entrapped in the material elements - earth, water,  fire, air and ether constituting the gross body and mind, intelligence and false ego constituting the subtle body. The subtle body is like the banian or inside wear and the gross body is like the outside coat. If the soul, which is by nature sat-cit-ananda (eternal-full of knowledge-full of bliss), has to lord over matter, he has to adapt himself to the material nature, which is foreign to his inherent spiritual constitution. Just as when we go to a foreign land (say a cold country), we have to wear clothes suitable to that land (warm clothes), similarly the soul has to have the coverings of the subtle body and the gross body as long as he is in the material world. The soul is placed in a particular type of bodily machine according to his past desires and karma. And while he is in that body, the Paramatma sits in his heart and directs him so that he can fulfill his desires and reap the results of his karma.

 

When the living entity is placed in a particular type of body, he has to work under the spell of that bodily situation. Thus a living entity in a human body can speak various languages, whereas a living entity in a dog's body can only bark, although the living entities in both bodies are similar spirit souls. Their position is similar to the position of two human beings, one 01 whom being in an airplane can fly in the sky, while the other  being in a car can only move along the ground. And at the time of death, when the living entity has to change his body, he forgets his past deeds, but the Supersoul. as the knower of the past, present and future, remains the witness of all his ac­tivities. And by the order of the Supersoul, material nature fash­ions a particular type of body for him to work according to his past desires.

 

In this way, under the direction of the Supersoul. the living entity has been wandering through the 8.4 million species of life for millions of lifetimes.

 

 

This is confirmed by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gitA (18.61):

 

isvarah sarva bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati

bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya

 

"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." Therefore we should not think that we are independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; we are always under His con­trol and are being constantly directed by Him.