Bhagavad Gita 13.23

upadraṣṭānumantā ca

bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ

paramātmeti cāpy ukto

dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ

 

Observer, monitor, permitter,

Sustainer, enjoyer, sovereign mover;

Known as the Self Supreme, residing within,

Dwelling in the body—yet beyond all bodily din.

 

My dear Lord, perceiving your presence is often difficult, for I get consumed by my material needs and desires, while you exist at the spiritual level as the supreme reality. Nonetheless, you do not restrict yourself to the spiritual level; you permeate and animate all of material reality as well, though not visibly.

O all-pervading Lord, you make the many miracles necessary for my very existence not only possible but normal, unfolding daily. Every breath I take, every morsel of food I digest, and even every thought I contemplate in my brain—all of these require an incredibly complex set of processes to work out rightly at each moment. Without you, everything about ordinary reality would collapse into dysfunction, disharmony and disaster.

O merciful Lord, it is you who can make the ordinary moments of my life extraordinary. When I start paying attention to the many marvels—be they minute or massive—that surround me, indeed sustain me, at each moment, life begins to come alive with a sense of grateful curiosity. May that curiosity reveal the intricacy, beauty, majesty, and ultimately the divinity that are present yet latent in everything that seems ordinary.

O supreme enlightener, help me appreciate how extraordinary even ordinary reality is, and thus transform my ordinary experiences into something extraordinary.

***

13.23 Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.