Shloka 23
Uddhava Recalls Kṛṣṇa’s Mission: Earth’s Burden, Royal Dharma, and the Prelude to Dvārakā’s Withdrawal
दैवाधीनेषु कामेषु दैवाधीन: स्वयं पुमान् । को विश्रम्भेत योगेन योगेश्वरमनुव्रत: ॥ २३ ॥
daivādhīneṣu kāmeṣu daivādhīnaḥ svayaṁ pumān ko viśrambheta yogena yogeśvaram anuvrataḥ
Khi mọi dục lạc đều tùy thuộc quyền lực siêu nhiên và chính chúng sinh cũng bị quyền lực ấy chi phối, thì ai có thể đặt trọn niềm tin vào những hoạt động giác quan siêu việt của Sri Kṛṣṇa, bậc Yogesvara, ngoài người đã trở thành tín đồ trung thành nhờ phụng sự bhakti?
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, no one can understand the transcendental birth and activities of the Lord. The same fact is herein corroborated: no one but one who is enlightened by the devotional service of the Lord can understand the difference between the Lord’s activities and those of others, who are controlled by the supernatural force. The sense enjoyment of all animals, men and demigods within the purview of the material universe is controlled by the supernatural force called the prakṛti, or daivī-māyā. No one is independent in obtaining sense enjoyment, and everyone in this material world is after sense enjoyment. Persons who are themselves under the control of supernatural power cannot believe that Lord Kṛṣṇa is not under any control beyond Himself in the matter of sense enjoyment. They cannot understand that His senses are transcendental. In the Brahma-saṁhitā the Lord’s senses are described as omnipotent; i.e., with any sense He can perform the activities of the other senses. One who has limited senses cannot believe that the Lord can eat by His transcendental power of hearing and can perform the act of sex life simply by seeing. The controlled living entity cannot even dream of such sense activities in his conditional life. But simply by the activities of bhakti-yoga, he can understand that the Lord and His activities are always transcendental. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) , bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: one cannot know even a fraction of the activities of the Lord if he is not a pure devotee of the Lord.
FAQs
This verse states that both the objects of desire and the conditioned soul’s ability to obtain them are under daiva (providence), so relying solely on personal techniques to control outcomes is ultimately limited.
He emphasizes that a devotee who follows the Supreme Controller (Yogeśvara) trusts the Lord’s will rather than expecting mystic practice alone to override the higher governance of providence.
Practice yoga as a supportive discipline, but place your confidence in surrender, prayer, and steady devotion—accepting outcomes as guided by the Lord rather than controlled only by technique.