नात्मनः कामकारोऽस्ति पुरुषोऽयमनीश्वरः।
इतश्चेतरतश्चैनं कृतान्तः परिकर्षति॥
nātmanaḥ kāma-kāro ’sti puruṣo ’yam anīśvaraḥ
itaś cetarataś cainaṁ kṛtāntaḥ parikarṣati
na ātmanaḥ kāma-kāraḥ asti = cannot accomplish whatever he wants; puruṣaḥ = man; ayam = [because] he; anīśvaraḥ = is not God; itaḥ ca = here; itarataḥ = there; ca = and; enam = him; kṛta-antaḥ = the independent Supreme Lord 1; parikarṣati = drags around.
Man cannot accomplish whatever he wants [because] he is not God.1 The independent Supreme Lord drags him around here and there.
1 In other words, Where there is a will, there is a way is rubbish except when the will refers to the will of God.
1 “He is not independent” because for the accomplishment of every activity, there are five causes: the body, the soul, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul are the five factors of action. (Bhagavad-gītā 18.14) So, the living entity is not the sole cause of any effect that he observes in his life.
“Man is not God” means “He is not independent.”1 That the independent Supreme Lord drags him around here and there is stated by the teacher of Bhagavad-gītā:
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.” (Bhagavad-gītā 18.61)
GLOSS. “Around here and there” means “from this world to that world” or “from this body to that body” [after death]. Providence makes everyone experience the results of his activities.