My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahma and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority

Expressions researched:
"My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahma and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority"

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 5

My dear Lord, just as a puppeteer controls his dancing dolls and a husband controls his wife, Your Lordship controls all the living entities in the universe, such as the brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras.

SB 5.18.26, Translation and Purport

My dear Lord, just as a puppeteer controls his dancing dolls and a husband controls his wife, Your Lordship controls all the living entities in the universe, such as the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. Although You are in everyone's heart as the supreme witness and commander and are outside everyone as well, the so-called leaders of societies, communities and countries cannot realize You. Only those who hear the vibration of the Vedic mantras can appreciate You.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is antarbahiḥ, present within and without everything. One must overcome the delusion caused by the Lord's external energy and realize His presence both externally and internally. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 1.8.19) Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī has explained that Kṛṣṇa appears in this world naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā, "exactly like an actor dressed as a player." In Bhagavad-gītā (BG 18.61) Kṛṣṇa says, īśvaraḥ sama-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati: "The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna." The Lord is situated within everyone's heart, and outside as well. Within the heart He is the Supersoul, the incarnation who acts as the adviser and witness. Yet although God is residing within their hearts, foolish people say, "I cannot see God. Please show Him to me."

Everyone is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly like dancing dolls controlled by a puppeteer or a woman controlled by her husband. A woman is compared to a doll (dārumayī) because she has no independence. She should always be controlled by a man. Still, due to false prestige, a class of women wants to remain independent. What to speak of women, all living entities are prakṛti (female) and therefore dependent on the Supreme Lord, as Kṛṣṇa Himself explains in Bhagavad-gītā (apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām (BG 7.5)). The living entity is never independent. Under all circumstances, he is dependent on the mercy of the Lord. The Lord creates the social divisions of human society—brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras—and ordains that they follow rules and regulations suited to their particular position. In this way, all members of society remain always under the Supreme Lord's control. Still, some people foolishly deny the existence of God.

Self-realization means to understand one's subordinate position in relation to the Lord. When one is thus enlightened, he surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is liberated from the clutches of the material energy. In other words, unless one surrenders to the lotus feet of the Lord, the material energy in its many varieties will continue to control him. No one in the material world can deny that he is under control. The Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, who is beyond this material existence, controls everyone. The following Vedic mantra confirms this point: eko ha vai nārāyaṇa āsīt. Foolish persons think Nārāyaṇa to be on the platform of ordinary material existence. Because they do not realize the natural constitutional position of the living entity, they concoct names like daridra-nārāyaṇa, svāmi-nārāyaṇa or mithyā-nārāyaṇa. However, Nārāyaṇa is actually the supreme controller of everyone. This understanding is self-realization.

My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahmā and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority.

SB 5.18.27, Translation and Purport

My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahmā and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority. Without Your help, however, they could neither separately nor concertedly maintain the innumerable living entities within the universe. You are actually the only maintainer of all human beings, of animals like cows and asses, and of plants, reptiles, birds, mountains and whatever else is visible within this material world.

It is fashionable for materialistic persons to compete with the power of God. When so-called scientists try to manufacture living entities in their laboratories, their only purpose is to defy the talent and ability of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called illusion. It exists even in the higher planetary systems, where great demigods like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and others reside. In this world everyone is puffed up with false prestige despite the failure of all his endeavors. When so-called philanthropists, who supposedly want to help the poor, are approached by members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, they say, "You are simply wasting your time, while I am feeding vast masses of starving people." Unfortunately, their meager efforts, either singly or together, do not solve anyone's problems.

Sometimes so-called svāmīs are very eager to feed poor people, thinking them to be daridra-nārāyaṇa, the Lord's incarnations as beggars. They prefer to serve the manufactured daridra-nārāyaṇa than the original, supreme Nārāyaṇa. They say, "Don't encourage service to Lord Nārāyaṇa. It is better to serve the starving people of the world." Unfortunately such materialists, either singly or combined in the form of the United Nations, cannot fulfill their plans. The truth is that the many millions of human beings, animals, birds and trees—indeed, all living entities—are maintained solely by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān: one person, the Supreme Lord, is supplying the necessities of life for all other living entities. To challenge the authority of Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the business of asuras (demons). Yet sometimes suras, or devotees, are also bewildered by the illusory energy and falsely claim to be the maintainer of the entire universe. Such incidents are described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells how Lord Brahmā and King Indra became puffed up and were eventually chastised by Kṛṣṇa.