|| 13.16 ||

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव च। सूक्ष्मत्वात्तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत्।।

bahir antaś ca bhūtānām acaraṁ caram eva ca sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūra-sthaṁ cāntike ca tat

bahiḥ (outside) antaḥ (inside) ca (and) bhūtānām (of all living beings) acaram (not moving) caram (moving) eva (certainly) ca (and) sūkṣmatvāt (due to being subtle) tat (that) avijñeyam (incomprehensible) dūra-stham (far away) ca (and) antike (near) ca (and) tat (that).

The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.

Kṛṣṇa explains that the Supreme Truth is simultaneously inside and outside all beings. He is both the stationary and the moving. Because He is ‘Sūkṣma’ or incredibly subtle, He is incomprehensible to material senses. He is the furthest star and the nearest heartbeat. This verse destroys the idea that God is ‘only’ in heaven or ‘only’ in the heart. He is both localized and infinite. To the materialist who relies only on logic, God is ‘Dūra-stham’—unreachably far. But to the devotee, He is ‘Antike’—closer than one’s own breath. Understanding the ‘subtlety’ of God means realizing that He cannot be found through physical instruments like telescopes or microscopes. He is found through the refinement of consciousness. He is the silent space between atoms and the vast expanse of the cosmos, pervading every layer of existence.