118 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 13
isvarah sarva-bhitanam
hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhiitani
yantraridhani mayaya

The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, and as one desires, the Lord
gives one various types of bodies, which are like machines. Riding on
such a machine, the living entity wanders throughout the universe,
under the control of material nature and its modes. Thus the living being
is not at all free to act, but is fully under the control of material nature,
which is fully under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As soon as a living entity is victimized by material desires to lord it
over material nature, he is subjected to the control of material nature,
which is supervised by the Supreme Soul. The result is that one again
and again makes plans and is baffled, but as foolish as he is he cannot see
the cause of his bafflement. This cause is distinctly stated in Bhagavad-
gita: because one has not surrendered to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, he must work under the control of material nature and its
stringent laws (daivi hy esd gunamayi mama m4ydé duratyaya). The
only means of becoming free from this entanglement is to surrender to
the Supreme Lord. In the human form of life, the living entity must ac-
cept this instruction from the Supreme Person, Krsna: sarva-dharman
parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. ““Do not plan to achieve happiness
and drive away distress. You will never be successful. Simply surrender
unto Me.” Unfortunately, however, the living entity does not accept the
Supreme Lord’s clearly stated instructions from Bhagavad-gita, and thus
he becomes a perpetual captive of the laws of material nature.

Yajndrthat karmano ’nyatra loko ’yarn karma-bandhanah: if one
does not act for the satisfaction of Krsna, who is known as Visnu or
Yajiia, he must be entangled in the reactions of fruitive activities. These
reactions are called papa and punya—sinful and pious. By pious ac-
tivities one is elevated to the higher planetary systems, and by impious
activities one is degraded to lower species of life, in which he is punished
by the laws of nature. In the lower species of life there is an evolutionary
process, and when the term of the living entity’s imprisonment or
punishment in the lower species is finished, he is again offered a human
form and given a chance to decide for himself which way he should plan.
