svabhÄva-tantro hi janaḥ
svabhÄvam anuvartate
svabhÄva-stham idaá¹ sarvaá¹
sa-devÄsura-mÄnuá¹£am
svabhÄva - of his conditioned nature; tantraḥ - under the control; hi - indeed; janaḥ - a person; svabhÄvam - his nature; anuvartate - he follows; svabhÄva-stham - based on conditioned propensities; idam - this world; sarvam - entire; sa - together with; deva - the demigods; asura - the demons; mÄnuá¹£am - and humankind.
Every individual is under the control of his own conditioned nature, and thus he must follow that nature. This entire universe, with all its demigods, demons and human beings, is based on the conditioned nature of the living entities.
Lord Kṛṣṇa here elaborates upon the argument given in the previous verse. Since everything depends on svabhÄva, or one’s conditioned nature, why bother worshiping God or the demigods? This argument would be sublime if svabhÄva, or conditioned nature, were all-powerful. But unfortunately it is not. There is a supreme controller and we must worship Him, as Lord Kṛṣṇa will emphatically reveal in this chapter of the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. For now, however, He is content to tease His relatives.
