Bhagavad Gita Verse 61, Chapter 18

eeshavaraha sarvabhootaanaam hriddesherjuna tishthati |
bhraamayansarvabhootaani yantraroodhaani maayayaa || 61 ||
 
Ishvara is seated in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, spinning all beings mounted on a machine by maaya.
 
eeshavaraha : Ishvara
sarvabhootaanaam : in all beings
hriddeshe : in the hearts
arjuna : O Arjuna
tishthati : seated
bhraamayan : spinning
sarvabhootaani : all beings
yantraroodhaani : mounted on a machine
maayayaa : by maaya
 
Quake was one of the first wildly successful multiplayer video games. Any person could participate in the video game as long as they were connected to the Internet. Players were placed in a virtual world where they could form teams with other players from across the world. Players would win points for shooting a member of the opposing team, and lose points if they would get shot. The creator of the Quake game had no influence on the outcome of the game, other than setting the rules of the game when it was created.
 
Shri Krishna says that the universe is like a gigantic video game set in motion by Ishvara. This video game is maayaa, also known as Prakriti, which is comprised of the three gunaas. By itself, maaya is insentient, it cannot do anything on its own. The eternal essence reflected in maaya adds sentience to maaya, it injects life into maaya by becoming the individual soul, the jeeva. In this way, each jeeva loses its connection with the eternal essence, and is stuck in this massive machine, this massive video game known as maaya.
 
So then, how can the jeeva liberate itself from this never ending video game of maaya? Does the jeeva have a chance? Is there any such thing as free will, or are we just slaves of maaya? The clue lies in the fact that maaya is subservient to Ishvara. If we only rely on maaya, if we only spend our lives attached to the material world, we will never have a chance at liberation. But if we direct our efforts towards knowing the true nature of Ishvara, towards contacting Ishvara, there may be a shot at liberation. Fortunately, he is not in some remote heaven, he is seated within us. How should we approach him? This is taken up next.