The Divine Orchestration
From Shri Ramcharitmanas
उमा दारु जोषित की नाईं। सबहि नचावत रामु गोसाईं॥
Uma daru joshit ki nai, sabahi nachavat Ramu Gosai
“O Uma! Lord Ram makes everyone dance like wooden puppets.”
नट मरकट इव सबहि नचावत। रामु खगेस बेद अस गावत॥
Nat markat iva sabahi nachavat, Ramu Khagesh Ved asa gavat
“O Garuda! The Vedas declare that Lord Ram makes everyone dance like a monkey controlled by a showman.”
We Are All Divine Instruments
These lines express a deep truth in spirituality: Nothing occurs without divine will. Every action, every movement, every breath is guided by God.
We believe we are self-sufficient. We think our thoughts are ours, our choices belong to us, and our successes are our own. But this is a great illusion.
Like a puppet that seems to move freely but is actually controlled by unseen strings, we seem to act independently but are really influenced by divine power.
Similarly, a trained monkey appears to dance on its own but is actually following the commands of the showman. We think we make our own choices, but we are actually following a divine plan that we do not fully understand.
Truth Is Important
This teaching is not meant to be depressing. In fact, it is the most freeing truth you can find.
When you truly grasp that God is behind all actions, three things occur:
First, your ego fades away. You stop claiming credit for your successes and stop feeling guilty about your failures. Both are the work of God, not you.
Second, your worries disappear. If God is in control of everything, what is there to be anxious about? The puppet doesn’t fret over the show. The puppet master takes care of it all.
Third, your devotion grows stronger. When you recognize your total reliance on God, prayer shifts from being a ritual to a necessity. Surrender becomes not just an idea but your natural state.
Wisdom from Scriptures
From Bhagavad Gita-
God as the Supreme Doer
ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति। भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया॥
Ishvarah sarvabhutanam hriddeshe’rjuna tishthati, Bhramayan sarvabhutani yantrarudhani mayaya
“The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing them to revolve by His Maya as if mounted on a machine.” (Bhagavad Gita 18.61)
This is the same teaching. God sits in the heart of every being and makes them revolve like machines. We are instruments. He is the operator.
The Illusion of Being the Doer
प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः। अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते॥
Prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvashah, Ahankara vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate
“All actions are performed by the modes of material nature, but the deluded soul, due to ego, thinks: ‘I am the doer.'” (Bhagavad Gita 3.27)
The ego creates the illusion that “I am doing this.” But in reality, everything is done by nature (Prakriti) under God’s direction. We are not the doers. We only think we are.
The Peace That Comes from Acceptance
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते। हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते॥
Yasya nahankrito bhavo buddhir yasya na lipyate, Hatva’pi sa imal lokan na hanti na nibadhyate
“One who is free from the ego of being the doer and whose intellect is not entangled, even if he kills these worlds, neither kills nor is bound.” (Bhagavad Gita 18.17)
When you stop identifying as the doer, you become free. Actions happen through you, but you are not bound by them. You are like a flute through which God plays music. The flute doesn’t claim to be making the music.
This is the peace the world cannot give and cannot take away.
From Saints
More Echoes of Divine Control
होइहि सोइ जो राम रचि राखा। को करि तर्क बढ़ावै साखा॥ (Tulsidas ji)
Hoihi soi jo Ram rachi rakha, ko kari tarka badhavai sakha
“That alone will happen which Ram has ordained. Who can change it through argument?”
This is complete surrender to divine will. What God has planned will happen. Your worry, your planning, your clever strategies cannot change divine destiny.
देनहार कोउ और है,भेजत सो दिन रैन।लोग भरम हम पै धरैं, याते नीचे नैन ॥ (Rahim ji)
“Another person(God) is the one who gives, day and night. Still, the world attributes the credit to me, so I lower my gaze.”
Even our capacity to feel compassion comes from God. Even our tears for others are His tears. We are instruments of divine mercy.
From the Upanishads: The Ultimate Controller
यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते अप्राप्य मनसा सह। आनन्दं ब्रह्मणो विद्वान्न बिभेति कुतश्चन॥
Yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha, Anandam brahmano vidvan na bibheti kutashchana
“From where words return unable to reach, along with the mind. One who knows the bliss of Brahman fears nothing.” (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.9)
God is beyond mind and speech. Yet He controls both mind and speech. How can the controlled understand the Controller? Yet when you surrender to this mystery, fear disappears.
ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्। तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम्॥
Ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyam jagat, Tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma gridhah kasyasvid dhanam
“All this, whatever moves in this moving world, is pervaded by God. Therefore, enjoy through renunciation. Do not covet anyone’s wealth.” (Isha Upanishad 1)
Everything is pervaded by God. Everything belongs to God. How then can you claim ownership? You are merely a temporary custodian of what always belonged to the Divine.
From Resistance to Acceptance
The Pain of Thinking You Are the Doer
When you believe you are the doer, life becomes a burden.
Success makes you arrogant. “Look what I accomplished!”
Failure crushes you. “I am worthless. I failed.”
Other people’s actions disturb you. “How could they do this to me?”
Uncertainty terrifies you. “What if things don’t go as planned?”
This is the suffering that comes from the ego of doership.
The Freedom of Knowing God Is the Doer
But when you surrender to the truth that God is the puppet master, everything changes.
Success becomes an offering. “Thank You for working through me.”
Failure becomes a lesson. “What are You teaching me?”
Other people’s actions become divine will. “You are showing me something through them.”
Uncertainty becomes trust. “Whatever You do will be perfect.”
This is the peace that surpasses understanding.
Two Ways the Divine “Makes You Dance”
- Through Maya (illusion) — where the ignorant soul is made to dance by its own desires, attachments, and delusions.
- Here, God’s will manifests as the law of karma.
- The sinner acts, faces consequences, and learns through suffering.
- Through Grace (bhakti) — where the devotee is made to dance in divine joy, surrender, and service.
- Here, the will of God flows through love and wisdom, not delusion.
Both are “God’s will,” but one is binding, and the other is liberating. God is the Power behind all action, but not the Intention behind wrongdoing.
The criminal’s act is by God’s energy, but through ignorance.
The devotee’s act is by the same energy but through love.
A Similar Teaching from the Ashtavakra Gita
न निर्मलो न च मलो न जीर्णो न नवो न नुनः। न बद्धो मुक्त एवाहं विभाति केवलं कृतम्॥
Na nirmalo na cha malo na jirno na navo na nunah, Na baddho mukta evaham vibhati kevalam kritam
“I am neither pure nor impure, neither old nor new. I am neither bound nor free. All this simply appears.”
When you realize God is the puppet master, you also realize you are not the puppet. You are the witness of the puppet show. You are the consciousness in which the entire drama unfolds.
The puppet thinks it’s bound. The puppet master knows he’s free. But the witness knows: Both puppet and puppet master are appearances in consciousness.
