न श्रोता नानुवक्तायं मुख्योऽप्यत्र महानसुः ।
यस्त्विहेन्द्रियवानात्मा स चान्यः प्राणदेहयोः ॥४५॥

na Å›rotÄ nÄnuvaktÄyaá¹
mukhyo 'py atra mahÄn asuḥ
yas tv ihendriyavÄn ÄtmÄ
sa cÄnyaḥ prÄṇa-dehayoḥ

 na - not; Å›rotÄ - the listener; na - not; anuvaktÄ - the speaker; ayam - this; mukhyaḥ - chief; api - although; atra - in this body; mahÄn - the great; asuḥ - life air; yaḥ - he who; tu - but; iha - in this body; indriya-vÄn - possessing all the sense organs; ÄtmÄ - the soul; saḥ - he; ca - and; anyaḥ - different; prÄṇa-dehayoḥ - from the life air and the material body.


Text

In the body the most important substance is the life air, but that also is neither the listener nor the speaker. Beyond even the life air, the soul also can do nothing, for the Supersoul is actually the director, in cooperation with the individual soul. The Supersoul conducting the activities of the body is different from the body and living force.

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead distinctly says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15), sarvasya cÄhaá¹ há¹›di sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca: “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.†Although the ÄtmÄ, or soul, is present in every material body (dehino ’smin yathÄ dehe), he is not actually the chief person acting through the senses, mind and so on. The soul can merely act in cooperation with the Supersoul because it is the Supersoul who gives him directions to act or not to act (mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca). One cannot act without His sanction, for the Supersoul is upadraá¹£á¹­Ä and anumantÄ, the witness and sanctioner. One who studies carefully, under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master, can understand the real knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually the conductor of all the activities of the individual soul, and the controller of their results as well. Although the individual soul possesses the indriyas, or senses, he is not actually the proprietor, for the proprietor is the Supersoul. Consequently the Supersoul is called HṛṣīkeÅ›a, and the individual soul is advised by the direction of the Supersoul to surrender to Him and thus be happy (sarva-dharmÄn parityajya mÄm ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja). Thus he can become immortal and be transferred to the spiritual kingdom, where he will achieve the highest success of an eternal, blissful life of knowledge. In conclusion, the individual soul is different from the body, senses, living force and the airs within the body, and above him is the Supersoul, who gives the individual soul all facilities. The individual soul who renders everything to the Supersoul lives very happily within the body.