He who, dwelling in the earth, is within the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body is the earth, who controls the earth from within —He is your Ātman, the Inner Ruler, the Immortal.

This verse introduces the antaryāmin (inner ruler), the consciousness that dwells within all elements without being known by them. The earth (pṛthivī) does not know the one who inhabits it, though it is his śarīra (body/projection). In our yoga practice, this is revelatory: the body does not know us, but we know the body. This asymmetry points toward our true identity as antaryāmin, not as the governed but as the inner governor. He is amṛta (immortal) because he does not depend on what he inhabits to exist.