Devanagari
मयेश्वरेण जीवेन गुणेन गुणिना विना ।
सर्वात्मनापि सर्वेण न भावो विद्यते क्वचित् ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
mayeśvareṇa jīvena
guṇena guṇinā vinā
sarvātmanāpi sarveṇa
na bhāvo vidyate kvacit
Synonyms
mayā
—
Me
;
īśvareṇa
—
the Supreme Lord
;
jīvena
—
the living entity
;
guṇena
—
the modes of nature
;
guṇinā
—
the mahat-tattva
;
vinā
—
without
;
sarva
—
ātmanā — the soul of all that exists
;
api
—
indeed
;
sarveṇa
—
everything
;
na
—
not
;
bhāvaḥ
—
existence
;
vidyate
—
there is
;
kvacit
—
whatsoever .
Translation
As the Supreme Lord I am the basis of the living entity, of the modes of nature and of the mahat-tattva. Thus I am everything, and nothing whatsoever can exist without Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Without the Lord and the jīva there is no spiritual existence. Without the guṇas and their causes, there is no material existence. With the totality of jīvas and individual jīvas and their coverings there is no combination of matter and spirit. Without me, nothing exists.
The meaning of the previous verse is particularized and summarized. Without the Lord and the jīva, there is no conscious existence. Without the guṇas and their causes—mahat-tattva and prakṛti, there is no material existence. Without individual and collective jīvas (sarvātmanā) and all the individual coverings (sarvena) there is no combination of jīvas with prakṛti. Without me (māyā), all of this does not exist. Thus I am everything.
Purport
Without the manifestation of the
mahat-tattva,
or total material existence, and the
jīva,
or living entity, nothing can exist within the material world. Everything we experience is a combination of the living entity and matter, in its various subtle and gross categories. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the entire basis of the existence of both the living entity and matter. Nothing can possibly exist even for a moment without the mercy of the Supreme Lord. One should not foolishly conclude that the Lord is therefore material. As has been clearly explained in this canto of the
Bhāgavatam,
both the living entity and the Supreme Lord are completely transcendental to material nature. The living entity, however, has the propensity to dream that he is material, whereas the Lord constantly remembers the transcendental position of both Himself and the conditioned dreaming entity. As the Lord is transcendental, His abode is also far beyond the reach of the modes of nature. The actual purpose of life is to understand by mature conviction the transcendental Lord, His transcendental abode, our own transcendental position and the process by which we may go back home, back to Godhead.