Isvara (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root
is to rule, be master] Lord; the supreme self or hierarch of any universe, large or small, likewise the divine spirit in man. Also a title for many gods in the Hindu pantheon, such as Vishnu and Siva.
In the
Bhagavad-Gita Isvara is that which "dwelleth in the heart of every creature" and which "causeth all things and creatures to revolve mounted upon the universal wheel of time" (chs 43; 6l). It is the essence of the spiritual monad in any individualized evolving being, the spiritual root, the god within, and the source of the spiritual and vital streams in any being which bring about its unfolding in evolution and its peregrinations through the fields of experience. Equivalent to the Father in Heaven of Jesus, and hence the source of the inner Christos or Buddha. Thus in one sense it is the individualized dhyani-buddha of every being.
See also LOGOS