Who runs the world, according to the Bhagavad Gita?

In the 14^th Shlok of the 5^th chapter of Bhagav Gita, Lord Shri Krishna says,

Na kartrutvam na karmani lokasya srujati prabhuh |
Na karmaphalsanyogam swabhaavastu pravartate  || 14 ||

Meaning, God does not create this world through doership, through actions, or through the association of the fruits of actions. Rather, the world functions automatically, according to its own inherent nature. So, who runs the world?

Revealing the deeper meaning of this shlok, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan explains that the world has arisen due to its intrinsic nature and also functions naturally because of it. There is no creator who has made it, nor anyone who runs it. If God were the one running the world, then sooner or later, it would come to an end. But the world has existed since beginningless time and will continue endlessly. Just as from a banyan seed a whole banyan tree grows, and then from that tree new seeds fall, in the same way the world keeps going on. Its very nature is to undergo constant change, it continuously transforms without stopping.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna has said that He created the universe. Explaining the hidden meaning behind this, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says that Shri Krishna spoke this statement while established in the form of the Self. Therefore, wherever the word “I” appears, it truly refers to the Atma (the Self), not to a human being with a physical body. In the presence of the Self, whatever intentions a being has cultivated in the past, their results must be experienced in this lifetime from birth until death. To be born, to take a body, to receive a particular form, shape, and colour, these are all the fruits of one’s own past inner states. There is no doership of God involved in this.

Param Pujya Dadashri explains in detail that according to a person’s inner intentions, their  karmas are bound, and accordingly experiences its  results. If one thinks animalistic thoughts, they take birth as an animal, if one cultivates thoughts of goodness or humanity, then they take birth again as a human being. When there are divine thoughts, where even if others cause harm, one continues to do good to them again and again, such individuals with super human-like nature go to the heavenly realms. This means that whatever inner sentience arises within a person, they are recorded in nature, and when the appropriate circumstances arise later, those karmic results are discharged accordingly.

If God were the creator and controller of the world, many questions would arise. For instance, is Lord Krishna running the world, or is it Lord Ram, or Lord Mahavir? Lord Krishna died due to a poisoned arrow. If God controlled the world, why could He not prevent His own death? Why couldn't He stop the Mahabharat war? Even Lord Rama could not prevent His own exile. Would God deliberately cause the abduction of His own wife, Sita, as a divine play? Lord Mahavira faced more severe hardships and obstacles than any of the twenty-four Tirthankaras before Him. If God were running the world, why would He allow any person to suffer even a little? Even a father in a household takes care that no one in the family faces sorrow, whereas God is said to be the father of the whole world, would He let His children suffer? Someone loses their job, someone does not even get enough to eat two meals a day, someone’s young, capable son passes away, so does God knowingly give such suffering? The very God whose aarti, worship, and devotion we perform daily, could it be that He does not even look at us?

What Shri Krishna Bhagwan has said, “the world functions due to its intrinsic nature”  is the ultimate, fundamental truth. For example, if we pour water on a slope, it flows from top to bottom. We may say, “Look how the water rushed forward,” but in reality, it is simply its nature to flow downward. No one is making the water move. In the same way, driven by the push of circumstances, the world runs automatically, on its own.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says that, “are wholly and solely responsible. God is not responsible at all!” We ourselves are responsible for the results of our karmas; God is not responsible at all. If God were the doer, then the theory of karma would be invalid. The science of karma states that whoever is the doer must also be the one experiencing its results. If God were the doer, then He would have to experience the consequences, and God would become guilty for performing the karmas. But it is we who suffer or enjoy the fruits of karma, therefore, we ourselves are the doers of our karmas.

Those who wish to delve deeply into spiritual truth, who want to know and attain God in His real form, who want to have His direct realization, they must understand God in the correct way. If we believe that God is the creator and controller of the world, sitting somewhere above, then we will never truly meet God. Until the true nature of God is recognized, His direct realization cannot occur. God is actually within oneself. Shri Krishna Bhagwan also says in the Bhagavad Gita, “I am present in every living being, in Atmaroop (as the Self). You need to see and know that.”