Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.54.12
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dāru-mayī
—
made of wood
Dāru (wood) + mayī (composed of). A wooden marionette. The Bhāgavatam will reuse the dāru-mayī yoṣit image at SB 5.6.7 and elsewhere — a stock simile for the illusory body.
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kuhaka
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of the showman / magician
Kuhaka is a stage-trickster, a sleight-of-hand artist. The world Jarāsandha sees has only the magician and the puppet; bhakti adds a third term — the personal devotee who steps off the stage.
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īśvara-tantraḥ
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under the control of the Supreme Lord
Īśvara (controller) + tantra (system, controlling apparatus). The Gauḍīya reading: the world IS īśvara-tantra, but Bhagavān runs the system through prema, not mere causality. Jarāsandha sees only the apparatus.
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īhate
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endeavors / struggles
Present middle of √īh. Material effort always carries the flavor of struggle (īhā); bhakti-yoga alone is anāyāsa, effortless in its essence (cf. BG 9.2).
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sukha-duḥkhayoḥ
—
in joy and misery
Dual locative. The Gītā's standard binary. Material life is, by definition, the field of this dvandva; transcendence is named as 'beyond joy and sorrow' (sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā, BG 2.38), which only Kṛṣṇa-consciousness reaches.
By the will of the Supreme Lord, living beings are awarded the proper results of their own activities. One who understands the Absolute Truth surrenders to the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and is no longer considered to be within the material system of existence. Since those endeavoring within the material system, or world, are necessarily trying to exploit the creation of God, they must be subjected to reactions, which are perceived by the conditioned souls as miserable and joyful. In fact, the entire material way of life is a fiasco when seen from the perspective of absolute bliss.
Just as puppets are controlled by a master, so the jivas receive happiness and distress under the direction of the Lord. Though the demons are here accepting the power of God, they do not recognize Krsna, and therefore they are considered asuras.
How is this? The example of a woman puppet is used to indicate an attraction for material enjoyment, since the puppet has attractiveness. Nṛtyate should be nṛtyati. All men (ayam) engage in actions. One may claim that happiness comes on its own, and then suffering (sukha-duḥkhayoḥ). This is not true since one sees suffering come on its own also. The Lord is described as follows. Apāṇipādo javano grahītā: the Lord is without hands and feet yet he moves quickly and holds things. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad). Sahasra-śrīṣā purusaḥ: the Lord has a thousand heads (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad). He is like a king. And even if one accepts the Lord, if one is opposed to Kṛsṇa, the para-brahman in human form, all one’s actions are useless. This is the intention of Śukadeva, though Jarāsandha speaks.
Why is everything impermanent? It is the desire of the Lord. To show that the universe is dependent on the Lord, an example is given. Women like to dance. All people (ayam) experience happiness and distress, dependent on the Lord. When the Lord desires a person’s happiness, he is happy. When he desires his suffering he suffers. In happiness he attains what he likes. In suffering he attains what he does not like. Suffering is mentioned after happiness because there is no choice for the jīva. One cannot search out a cause, since it is by the desire of the Lord. If there were some other cause, the Lord’s independence would be faulty. It would mean no supreme Lord.
A wooden puppet dances because a hand pulls strings she cannot see — Jarāsandha grants the Lord as īśvara of the puppet-show, but mistakes Him for a remote, impersonal manipulator. Gauḍīyas read the same image differently: Bhagavān is not the hidden stage-hand but the lover who wishes to dance with the puppet once she becomes a person.
Prahlāda's prayers in Canto 7 echo Jarāsandha's metaphor but invert its mood. He too declares the Lord the cause of all dancing — but Prahlāda's tone is wonder, not resignation: he addresses the puppeteer as 'my Lord, my father, my friend.'
Gauḍīyas note: the same theological claim (īśvara-tantraḥ) becomes either fatalism or prayer depending on whether the speaker has begun bhakti. Doctrine without rasa is half-truth.
My note
Source: vedabase.io