Devanagari
सर्वत: पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम् ।
सर्वत:श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat
sarvato ’kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati
Synonyms
sarvataḥ
—
everywhere
;
pāṇi
—
hands
;
pādam
—
legs
;
tat
—
that
;
sarvataḥ
—
everywhere
;
akṣi
—
eyes
;
śiraḥ
—
heads
;
mukham
—
faces
;
sarvataḥ
—
everywhere
;
śruti-mat
—
having ears
;
loke
—
in the world
;
sarvam
—
everything
;
āvṛtya
—
covering
;
tiṣṭhati
—
exists.
Translation
Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
14. Everywhere this Brahman has His hands and feet. Everywhere Brahman has His eyes, heads and mouths. Everywhere are His ears. Brahman covers everything in the universe.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
14. Everywhere this paramātmā has its hands and feet. Everywhere paramātmā has its eyes, heads and mouths. Everywhere are its ears. Paramātmā covers everything in the universe.
Purport
As the sun exists diffusing its unlimited rays, so does the Supersoul, or Supreme Personality of Godhead. He exists in His all-pervading form, and in Him exist all the individual living entities, beginning from the first great teacher, Brahmā, down to the small ants. There are unlimited heads, legs, hands and eyes, and unlimited living entities. All are existing in and on the Supersoul. Therefore the Supersoul is all-pervading. The individual soul, however, cannot say that he has his hands, legs and eyes everywhere. That is not possible. If he thinks that under ignorance he is not conscious that his hands and legs are diffused all over but when he attains to proper knowledge he will come to that stage, his thinking is contradictory. This means that the individual soul, having become conditioned by material nature, is not supreme. The Supreme is different from the individual soul. The Supreme Lord can extend His hand without limit; the individual soul cannot. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that if anyone offers Him a flower, or a fruit, or a little water, He accepts it. If the Lord is a far distance away, how can He accept things? This is the omnipotence of the Lord: even though He is situated in His own abode, far, far away from earth, He can extend His hand to accept what anyone offers. That is His potency. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) it is stated, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ: although He is always engaged in pastimes in His transcendental planet, He is all-pervading. The individual soul cannot claim that he is all-pervading. Therefore this verse describes the Supreme Soul, the Personality of Godhead, not the individual soul.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The doubt may arise that if this Brahman is without cause and effect, then that contradicts the statements of śruti such as sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14) and brahmaivedaṁ sarvam (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.2.12): everything is Brahman.
Though Brahman in its essential nature is beyond cause and effect, this Brahman (Paramātmā) is also cause and effect because of non- difference between the energy and the source of energy. [Note: The Lord is the creator of material bodies since prakṛti produces the bodies, but prakṛti, being the energy of the Lord, is non-different from Him. Thus as prakṛti, He is a cause of the material bodies.] That is stated in this verse. This Brahman has His hands and feet everywhere. By the manifestation everywhere of hands and feet of all creatures from Lord Brahmā down to the ant (His effects), one can say that Brahman is endowed with countless hands and feet. Similarly, His eyes, head, and face are everywhere.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
The Lord then teaches about the paramātmā. The word tat refers to the paramātmā. His hands and feet are everywhere. The meaning is clear.
Surrender Unto Me
This verse refers to the Supersoul, not the individual soul.
(DS) A person could argue that this verse refers to the Supersoul, but also could refer to the individual soul but he hasn't realized it yet. Why not? He would say: 'Because right now I am in ignorance'.
Srila Prabhupada answers to this by saying: "Supreme means that He is always the Supreme. And Supreme cannot be covered by ignorance otherwise ignorance would be greater than the Supreme . And this is contradictory.