Verse 13.14

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 13.14:

सर्वतः पाणि-पादं तत् सर्वतोऽक्षि-शिरो-मुखम् ।
सर्वतः श्रुतिमल् लोके सर्वम् आवृत्य तिष्ठति ॥ १४ ॥

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṃ tat sarvato'kṣi-śiro-mukham |
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati || 14 ||

sarvataḥ–everywhere; pāṇi–hands; pādam–feet; tat–His; sarvataḥ–everywhere; akṣi–His eyes; śiraḥ–heads; mukham–faces; sarvataḥ–everywhere; śrutimat–that person listens; loke–in this world;sarvam āvṛtya–pervading everything; tiṣṭhati–He resides.

His hands and feet are everywhere. His eyes, heads and faces pervade all directions, and He hears everything. Situated thus, brahma pervades the entire universe.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Will it not contradict the statements of Śruti, such as “sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma–all this is brahma” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1) and “brahmaivedaṃ sarvam–everything is brahma”, to say that brahma is distinct from both cause and effect? Anticipating such a question, Śrī Bhagavān is explaining that although by nature brahma is beyond both cause and effect, at the same time, brahma is also both the cause and the effect, because there is no difference between the energy and the energetic. Therefore, He is saying that His hands, feet, etc., are everywhere, which means that brahma has unlimited hands and feet–in the form of the hands and feet of every visible entity, extending from Lord Brahmā down to a minute ant. Thus His eyes, heads, mouths and ears are everywhere.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

In the previous verse‚ brahma was described as being beyond cause and effect (sat and asat). Now‚ the sūtra from Vedānta “śakti-śaktimator abhedaḥ–the energy and the energetic are non-different” can be quoted in response to one who questions the validity of such Śruti statements as sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma and brahmaivedaṃ sarvam. According to this sūtra, although the svarūpa of Śrī Bhagavān is beyond both cause and effect, the workings of His potency (śakti) are indeed the work of the potent (śaktimān), because there is no difference between the energy and the energetic. One can thus understand that all effects, such as this visible world, are the svarūpa of Bhagavān, being non-different from Him and the transformations of His śakti. The present verse is being spoken to make this point clear. Brahma alone exists, pervading everything through the medium of the hands, feet, etc., of all jīvas, who are subordinate to Him and situated within Him. Since He is all-pervading, He has unlimited hands, eyes, feet and ears. However, the jīvātmā is not all-pervading, nor does he possess unlimited hands, heads, feet, etc. Paramātmā is omnipotent, but the jīva is not.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “The sun’s rays illuminate due to their dependence on the sun. In the same way, brahma-tattva has attained its infinite and all-pervading aspect because it is dependent on My potency. The existence of brahma, who is the resting place for unlimited jīvas, beginning from Brahmā down to the ant, collectively encompasses unlimited hands, feet, eyes, heads, mouths and ears, and is visible everywhere.”