Devanagari
ऋतेऽर्थं यत् प्रतीयेत न प्रतीयेत चात्मनि ।
तद्विद्यादात्मनो मायां यथाभासो यथा तम: ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
ṛte ’rthaṁ yat pratīyeta
na pratīyeta cātmani
tad vidyād ātmano māyāṁ
yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ
Synonyms
ṛte
—
without
;
artham
—
value
;
yat
—
that which
;
pratīyeta
—
appears to be
;
na
—
not
;
pratīyeta
—
appears to be
;
ca
—
and
;
ātmani
—
in relation to Me
;
tat
—
that
;
vidyāt
—
you must know
;
ātmanaḥ
—
My
;
māyām
—
illusory energy
;
yathā
—
just as
;
ābhāsaḥ
—
the reflection
;
yathā
—
as
;
tamaḥ
—
the darkness .
Translation
O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
One should understand my māyā by whose power real objects are perceived through vidyā and false objects are perceived through avidyā, in relation to the self, just as light reveals objects and darkness hides them. One should understand my yoga-māyā by whose power some objects are revealed and some objects hidden from the person who has realized the Lord, just as light reveals objects and darkness hides them.
Purport
In the previous verse it has already been concluded that in any stage of the cosmic manifestation — its appearance, its sustenance, its growth, its interactions of different energies, its deterioration and its disappearance — all has its basic relation with the existence of the Personality of Godhead. And as such, whenever there is forgetfulness of this prime relation with the Lord, and whenever things are accepted as real without being related to the Lord, that conception is called a product of the illusory energy of the Lord. Because nothing can exist without the Lord, it should be known that the illusory energy is also an energy of the Lord. The right conclusion of dovetailing everything in relationship with the Lord is called
yoga-māyā,
or the energy of union, and the wrong conception of detaching a thing from its relationship with the Lord is called the Lord’s
daivī māyā,
or
mahā-māyā.
Both the
māyās
also have connections with the Lord because nothing can exist without being related to Him. As such, the wrong conception of detaching relationships from the Lord is not false, but illusory.
Misconceiving one thing for another thing is called illusion. For example, accepting a rope as a snake is illusion, but the rope is not false. The rope, as it exists in the front of the illusioned person, is not at all false, but the acceptance is illusory. Therefore the wrong conception of accepting this material manifestation as being divorced from the energy of the Lord is illusion, but it is not false. And this illusory conception is called the reflection of the reality in the darkness of ignorance. Anything that appears as apparently not being “produced out of My energy” is called
māyā.
The conception that the living entity is formless or that the Supreme Lord is formless is also illusion. In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.12)
it was said by the Lord in the midst of the battlefield that the warriors standing in front of Arjuna, Arjuna himself, and even the Lord had all existed before, they were existing on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and they would all continue to be individual personalities in the future also, even after the annihilation of the present body and even after being liberated from the bondage of material existence. In all circumstances, the Lord and the living entities are individual personalities, and the personal features of both the Lord and living beings are never abolished; only the influence of the illusory energy, the reflection of light in the darkness, can, by the mercy of the Lord, be removed. In the material world, the light of the sun is also not independent, nor is that of the moon. The real source of light is the
brahmajyoti,
which diffuses light from the transcendental body of the Lord, and the same light is reflected in varieties of light: the light of the sun, the light of the moon, the light of fire, or the light of electricity. So the identity of the self as being unconnected with the Supreme Self, the Lord, is also illusion, and the false claim “I am the Supreme” is the last illusory snare of the same
māyā,
or the external energy of the Lord.
The
Vedānta-sūtra
in the very beginning affirms that everything is born from the Supreme, and thus, as explained in the previous verse, all individual living entities are born from the energy of the supreme living being, the Personality of Godhead. Brahmā himself was born from the energy of the Lord, and all other living entities are born from the energy of the Lord through the agency of Brahmā; none of them has any existence without being dovetailed with the Supreme Lord.
The independence of the individual living entity is not real independence, but is just the reflection of the real independence existing in the Supreme Being, the Lord. The false claim of supreme independence by the conditioned souls is illusion, and this conclusion is admitted in this verse.
Persons with a poor fund of knowledge become illusioned, and therefore the so-called scientists, physiologists, empiric philosophers, etc., become dazzled by the glaring reflection of the sun, moon, electricity, etc., and deny the existence of the Supreme Lord, putting forward theories and different speculations about the creation, maintenance and annihilation of everything material. The medical practitioner may deny the existence of the soul in the physiological bodily construction of an individual person, but he cannot give life to a dead body, even though all the mechanisms of the body exist even after death. The psychologist makes a serious study of the physiological conditions of the brain, as if the construction of the cerebral lump were the machine of the functioning mind, but in the dead body the psychologist cannot bring back the function of the mind. These scientific studies of the cosmic manifestation or the bodily construction independent of the Supreme Lord are different reflective intellectual gymnastics only, but at the end they are all illusion and nothing more. All such advancement of science and knowledge in the present context of material civilization is but an action of the covering influence of the illusory energy. The illusory energy has two phases of existence, namely the covering influence and the throwing influence. By the throwing influence the illusory energy throws the living entities into the darkness of ignorance, and by the covering influence she covers the eyes of men with a poor fund of knowledge about the existence of the Supreme Person who enlightened the supreme individual living being, Brahmā. The identity of Brahmā with the Supreme Lord is never claimed herein, and therefore such a foolish claim by the man with a poor fund of knowledge is another display of the illusory energy of the Lord. The Lord says in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(16.18-20) that demoniac persons who deny the existence of the Lord are thrown more and more into the darkness of ignorance, and thus such demoniac persons transmigrate life after life without any knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The sane man, however, is enlightened in the disciplic succession from Brahmājī, who was personally instructed by the Lord, or in the disciplic succession from Arjuna, who was personally instructed by the Lord in the
Bhagavad-gītā.
He accepts this statement of the Lord:
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
(Bg. 10.8)
The Lord is the original source of all emanations, and everything that is created, maintained and annihilated exists by the energy of the Lord. The sane man who knows this is actually learned, and therefore he becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
Although the reflectory energy of the Lord displays various illusions to the eyes of persons with a poor fund of knowledge, the sane person knows clearly that the Lord can act, even from far, far beyond our vision, by His different energies, just as fire can diffuse heat and light from a distant place. In the medical science of the ancient sages, known as the
Āyur-veda,
there is definite acceptance of the Lord’s supremacy in the following words:
jagad-yoner anicchasya
cid-ānandaika-rūpiṇaḥ
puṁso ’sti prakṛtir nityā
praticchāyeva bhāsvataḥ
acetanāpi caitanya-
yogena paramātmanaḥ
akarod viśvam akhilam
anityam nāṭakākṛtim
There is one Supreme Person who is the progenitor of this cosmic manifestation and whose energy acts as
prakṛti,
or the material nature, dazzling like a reflection. By such illusory action of
prakṛti,
even dead matter is caused to move by the cooperation of living energy of the Lord, and the material world appears like a dramatic performance to the ignorant eyes. The ignorant person, therefore, may even be a scientist or physiologist in the drama of
prakṛti,
while the sane person knows
prakṛti
as the illusory energy of the Lord. By such a conclusion, as confirmed by the
Bhagavad-gītā,
it is clear that the living entities are also a display of the Lord’s superior energy (
parā prakṛti
), just as the material world is a display of the Lord’s inferior energy (
aparā prakṛti
). The superior energy of the Lord cannot be as good as the Lord, although there is very little difference between the energy and the possessor of the energy, or the fire and the heat. Fire is possessed of heat, but heat is not fire. This simple thing is not understood by the man with a poor fund of knowledge who falsely claims that the fire and heat are the same. This energy of the fire (namely heat) is explained here as a reflection, and not directly fire. Therefore the living energy represented by the living entities is the reflection of the Lord, and never the Lord Himself. Being the reflection of the Lord, the existence of the living entity is dependent on the Supreme Lord, who is the original light. This material energy may be compared to darkness, as actually it is darkness, and the activities of the living entities in the darkness are reflections of the original light. The Lord should be understood by the context of this verse. Non-dependence of both the energies of the Lord is explained as
māyā,
or illusion. No one can make a solution of the darkness of ignorance simply by the reflection of light. Similarly, no one can come out of material existence simply by the reflected light of the common man; one has to receive the light from the original light itself. The reflection of sunlight in the darkness is unable to drive out the darkness, but the sunlight outside the reflection can drive out the darkness completely. In darkness no one can see the things in a room. Therefore a person in the dark is afraid of snakes and scorpions, although there may not be such things. But in the light the things in the room can be clearly seen, and the fear of snakes and scorpions is at once removed. Therefore one has to take shelter of the light of the Lord, as in the
Bhagavad-gītā
or the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
and not the reflective personalities who have no touch with the Lord. No one should hear
Bhagavad-gītā
or
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
from a person who does not believe in the existence of the Lord. Such a person is already doomed, and any association with such a doomed person makes the associater also doomed.
According to the
Padma Purāṇa,
within the material compass there are innumerable material universes, and all of them are full of darkness. Any living being, beginning from the Brahmās (there are innumerable Brahmās in innumerable universes) to the insignificant ant, are all born in darkness, and they require factual light from the Lord to see Him directly, just as the sun can be seen only by the direct light of the sun. No lamp or man-made torchlight, however powerful it may be, can help one see the sun. The sun reveals itself. Therefore the action of different energies of the Lord, or the Personality of Godhead Himself, can be realized by the light manifested by the causeless mercy of the Lord. The impersonalists say that God cannot be seen. God can be seen by the light of God and not by man-made speculations. Here this light is specifically mentioned as
vidyāt,
which is an order by the Lord to Brahmā. This direct order of the Lord is a manifestation of His internal energy, and this particular energy is the means of seeing the Lord face to face. Not only Brahmā but anyone who may be graced by the Lord to see such merciful direct internal energy can also realize the Personality of Godhead without any mental speculation.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Māyā (material energy) acts partly favorably and partly unfavorably towards the jīva trying to attain knowledge and realization of Paramātmā. When you realize me (Paramātmā), then only yoga-māyā functions. Thus yoga-māyā acts only favorably. Since both of these should be defined in the verse, I will impart this knowledge to you. In verse 27 you have asked about the qualities of māyā and yoga-māyā (yathātma-māyā-yogena). I am now giving the answer by taking two meanings to the verse.
By this māyā nothing is perceived except a real object (artham); that is, only a real object is perceived. And by this māyā (yat) there is perception without a real object. This means that by this māyā real objects are not perceived, but rather; false objects are perceived. The liberated and conditioned souls know it as my (ātmanaḥ) māyā-śakti which has two functions of vidyā (for the liberated soul) and avidyā (for the conditioned soul), existing in relation to the self (ātmani).
An example of vidyā is given. It is like the illumination coming from a lamp (yathābhāsaḥ). In a house, an existing pot or cloth is perceived because of the light of a lamp, but by taking the lamp away, the pot or cloth which previously existed does not become non-existent. A snake or scorpion which was a cause of fear is perceived as non-existent at that time. By the function of vidyā, the liberated jīva perceives knowledge and bliss in relation to the self. It is not like the state of avidyā, where this perception (about knowledge and bliss) is absent. In that state, body and its related lamentation and illusion, which are actually not related to the self, are not perceived.
An example of avidyā is given. It is like darkness. Because of darkness a pot or cloth in the house are not perceived to exist. However, a snake or thief, though not existing there, cause fear because of their possible existence, and thus, are perceived to exist where they actually do not exist. Because of avidyā, the conditioned jīva does not perceive knowledge and bliss, even though they exist with an eternal relationship to the self. The conditioned jīva perceives the body, and lamentation and confusion related to the body appear to be related to self, though actually they are not related to the self.
Though flowers and horns exist, because they are not related to sky and rabbit, a flower in the sky and a rabbit with horns are false. Similarly, though bodies and lamentation, confusion, happiness and distress all exist as expansions of real matter, the body, lamentation, confusion, happiness and distress are all called false in the scriptures because they have no real relation to the jīva. Though the relationship of the jīva with the body is false, it is produced by avidyā and destroyed by vidyā. Thus vidyā is compared to light and avidyā is compared to darkness. In the Eighth Canto this is proved in the statement chāyā-tapau yatra na gṛdhra-pakṣau: the Lord is constantly witnessing, but not affected, and has no vidyā or avidyā. (SB 8.5.27)
Some explain the example this way. The example of darkness refers to the covering or obscuring portion of māyā. Examples of the obscuring and confusion aspects are being overcome with fear of snakes, tigers or being possessed by a ghost. These are accepted by taking the meaning of tamas as ignorance. Some explain the qualities of avidyā -- obscuring and confusion (āvaraṇa and vikṣepa) -- as non-apprehension of real objects and apprehension of unreal objects.
The word artha can also mean wealth. Like a merchant who has attained wealth through good fortune, the liberated soul gains knowledge and bliss through vidyā and is considered wealthy. Like the merchant who by misfortune has not attained wealth, the conditioned soul, having knowledge and bliss covered by avidyā is considered poor. By vidyā the jīva realizes that he is ātmā or tvam. [Note: Vidyā is the door to realization, but vidyā must be mixed with bhakti.] He does not realize Paramātmā or tat by vidyā (which is sattva). Because the Lord is beyond the guṇas, he realizes the Lord only by pure bhakti which is beyond the guṇas, for the Lord says bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ: I am achieved only by bhakti. (SB 11.14.21) He also says kaivalyaṁ sāttvikaṁ jṣānam: jṣāna, which gives liberation, is in the mode of goodness. (SB 11.25.24) One cannot realize Paramātmā who is beyond the guṇas by vidyā which belongs to sattva-guṇa, and which means knowledge of ātmā separate from body. Rather this vidyā is destroyed by bhakti. The Lord says:
dravyaṁ deśaḥ phalaṁ kālo jṣānaṁ karma ca kārakaḥ |
śraddhāvasthākṛtir niṣṭhā trai-guṇyaḥ sarva eva hi ||
yeneme nirjitāḥ saumya guṇā jīvena citta-jāḥ |
bhakti-yogena man-niṣṭho mad-bhāvāya prapadyate ||
Therefore material substance, place, result of activity, time, knowledge, work, the performer of work, faith, state of consciousness, species of life and destination after death are all based on the three modes of material nature. The living entity who conquers these modes, manifested from the mind, can dedicate himself to me by the process of devotional service and thus attain pure love for me. SB 11.25.30, 32
Must the liberated jīva obtain bhakti in order to realize Paramātmā directly? For the person qualified for jṣāna, vidyā is produced by sāṅkhya, yoga, austerity and other methods mixed with bhakti. That vidyā destroys avidyā and produces realization of ātmā or tvam. The person freed from avidyā gradually becomes increasingly indifferent to vidyā, like a fire without fuel wood, while the small portion of bhakti previously performed loses its covering and makes its appearance like the moon coming out of eclipse. Only by repeated bhakti, gradually, the realization of Paramātmā or tat appears. The Lord says in Gītā:
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati |
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām ||
Having attained the state of brahman, being a pure soul, he does not lament in loss of what he had nor does he desire what he does not have, and looks upon all beings as equal. He then manifests pure bhakti. BG 18.54
In the Gītā verse parām means “best” or “only” since it is now devoid of its previous secondary status. It is said in the next verse bhakty? m?m abhij?n?ti y?v?n yaś c?smi tattvataḥ: only by bhakti can a person know me as brahman. Thus by amount and type of bhakti, that person realizes impersonal brahman by that small portion of bhakti but not the qualified brahman with knowledge and bliss, Bhagavān. It is like a person with weak eyesight who sees only the general form of a deity decorated with jewels, and not all the details such as face, nose, eyes and ears. When there is complete cessation of vidyā, by the bhakti which appears in the person now beyond the guṇas, the person achieves the perfection of realization of the impersonal brahman. This is called nirvāṇa or oneness of jīva and brahman. In the Gītā it is stated tato m?ṁ tattvato jṣ?tv? viśate tad-anantaram: then, knowing me as brahman by that bhakti, he merges with me. (BG 18.55)
When pure bhakti, which is mercy of the Lord incarnate and the essence of the cit-śakti, becomes very strong and prominent by amount and type, it is completely independent, and does not consider good or bad, and may appear suddenly within conditioned jīvas, even of bad conduct, or who are born as Rākṣasas, Pulindas or Pukkaśas, whereas it may not appear within brāhmaṇas or sannyasīs even if they are liberated. By that bhakti alone, all suffering including avidyā is destroyed. It is said:
jarayaty āśu yā kośaṁ nigīrṇam analo yathā
Bhakti, devotional service, dissolves the subtle body of the living entity without separate effort, just as fire in the stomach digests all that we eat. SB 3.25.33
By that bhakti alone, a person will realize directly Bhagavān filled with bliss and knowledge, just as a person with strong eyesight by good fortune can see the general form of the beautiful deity and also the details of the face, nose, eyes and ears.
Bhakti is of two types: bhakti without material guṇas and bhakti mixed with the guṇas. By the first type, which in its mature state is called prema-bhakti, one brings the Lord under control. Through this a person realizes the sweet pastimes, form and qualities of the Lord composed of eternity, knowledge and bliss. By the second type of bhakti, mixed with sattva-guṇa, after it loses its sattva-guṇa, a person realizes only the bliss of impersonal brahman. Material māyā has jurisdiction over the jīvas previous to the state of realizing the bliss of brahman.
The verse could have been easily expressed by the following words satyam eva pratītaṁ syād yato ’satyaṁ tathā yataḥ tad vidyād ātmano māyāṁ yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ. Thus, a desire for another meaning in this verse has arisen, using the words ṛte and artha without changing their meaning. By this interpretation, the verse speaks of the qualities of yoga-māyā, the śakti arising from the Lord’s svarūpa, which functions to reveal and cover his form, qualities and pastimes under his will and which clearly acts even upon people who have realization of brahman. Ātmani ṛte means “knowing or realizing me, Paramātmā.” Ṛta can mean path or knowledge, and thus indicates direct realization. Yat corresponds to the word tat and means yataḥ.
‘
Thus the meaning is as follows. Understand my internal energy called yoga-māyā. By this yoga-māya (yataḥ) spiritual or material objects (artham) useful for a certain purpose are revealed (pratīyeta) to a person who has directly realized Paramātmā and by this same yoga-māyā these objects are not perceived, or are covered now or at some other time, when a person has realized Paramātmā (ṛte ātmani). One should understand that material māyā covers objects from view without a spiritual purpose, whereas yoga-māyā covers objects with a specific spiritual purpose. In the case of yoga-māyā, yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ means “Just as a pot or cloth lit by a lamp is visible, and when it is covered by darkness it is not perceived.” That yoga-māyā by my will has qualities of revealing and obscuring, like light and darkness.
An example may be given. In order to show that Yaśodā’s love could not be restricted by a show of Kṛṣṇa’s power, yoga-māyā revealed the material universe within his stomach while simultaneously revealing the spiritual forms of Gokula, Yaśodā and Kṛṣṇa. Bewildered by yoga-māyā, Yaśodā perceived that directly, and after a moment did not perceive it, since yoga-māyā covered that realization.
In order show how prema is restricted by realization of power, Arjuna realized the universal form and the form of Paramātmā when it was revealed by yoga-māya. Because of the covering of yoga-māyā, he did not experience the svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa which was still present. At other times he did not experience either the universal form or Paramātmā, which was covered by yoga-māyā, but experienced Kṛṣṇa’s two armed form. At one time one form of the Lord was revealed, while another was covered. This is how it is different from yoga-māya acting on Yaśodā in the first example.
Here is another example. In order to destroy Brahmā’s thinking that he was the controller, yoga-māyā, by showing sweetness and power, made the real calves and cowherd boys invisible and showed calves and boys who were Kṛṣṇa himself, and then made those forms invisible and showed forms of Viṣṇu with four arms. Then yoga-māyā made those Viṣṇu forms disappear and showed the form of Kṛṣṇa. Brahmā was bewildered by these acts of yoga-māyā. The unique quality of yoga-māyā’s action here is that the one form of Brahmā observed repeated coverings and revelations of various forms of the Lord.
In order to show the inconceivable nature of his form, being both limited and unlimited by its very nature, and in order to show that he is brought under control by the efforts of pure service and by his mercy arising from seeing those efforts, yoga-māyā assisted in the Damodāra pastime. Yaśodā wanted to bind Kṛṣṇa, and at the same time, Kṛṣṇa did not want to be bound up. Simultaneously covering his power, yoga-māyā allowed Yaśodā to tie a string of bells around his waist, but displaying his power, did not allow her to tie a rope around his waist. The rope was always two fingers too short. Yaśodā, bewildered by yoga-māyā, which made it impossible for her to bind Kṛṣṇa according to his wish, experienced great astonishment for a moment. This power was then covered by yoga-māyā by Kṛṣṇa’s consent, in order to fulfill Yaśodā’s desire. Then she bound up Kṛṣṇa. The outstanding feature of yoga-māyā in this case is the simultaneous covering of and displaying of the power in Kṛṣṇa.
In order to fulfill invitations to each party, Kṛṣṇa simultaneously manifested his form to Śrutadev and Bahulāśva, and to Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā in their houses. By yoga-māyā he could perform his pastimes in each place by hiding the other form and revealing one form to each party. Simultaneously manifesting two different forms for Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva and hiding one form from each is different from yoga-māyā acting only upon one person such as Yāśodā. All of this is performed by yoga-māyā not the material māyā, since the persons who become bewildered by yoga-māyā get to see at least Paramātmā.
Those with bhakti-mīśra-jṣānaParamātmā, after having destroyed vidyā and avidyā, seeing Kṛṣṇa with some devotion, by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, realize him as Paramātmā when Kṛṣṇa descends on earth, though they do not have prema., and. Only those who have prema directly see Kṛṣṇa or Rāma according to Bhāgavatam. Yoga-māyā alone acts upon them as well, not material māyā. However persons like Kaṁsa, who see Kṛṣṇa by his desire, do not experience Paramātmā because of the hatred and other faults in their hearts. This is like persons with jaundice who eat sugar candy but do not taste the sweetness of the sugar. They are affected by material māyā, not yoga-māyā. The material māyā actually arises from yoga-māyā and is its vibhūti or expansion. It is said in Nārada-paṣcarātra, in the speech of Śruti-vidyā:
asyā āvaraṇikā śaktir mahā-māyākhileśvarī |
yayā mugdhaṁ jagat sarvaṁ sarva-dehābhimāninaḥ || iti |
Material māyā, the controller of all beings in the material world is the covering energy of yoga-māyā. By her the whole universe becomes bewildered and everyone thinks they are their bodies.
Yoga-māyā-śakti, a spiritual potency, is identified by the Lord with his spiritual body. Māyā-śakti, the material potency, a portion of yoga-māyā, which is different from his spiritual form, is not identified with his spiritual form, by the will of the Lord. When the snake gives up his skin which arises from him, that skin becomes material and inactive, as if arising from a non-living source. Śruti says:
sa yad ajayā tv ajām anuśayīta guṇāṁś ca juṣan
bhajati sarūpatāṁ tad anu mṛtyum apeta-bhagaḥ
tvam uta jahāsi tām ahir iva tvacam ātta-bhago
mahasi mahīyase ’ṣṭa-guṇite ’parimeya-bhagaḥ
The illusory material nature attracts the minute living entity to embrace her, and as a result he assumes forms composed of her qualities. Subsequently, he loses all his spiritual qualities and must undergo repeated deaths. You, however, avoid the material energy in the same way that a snake abandons its old skin. Glorious in your possession of eight mystic perfections, you enjoy unlimited opulences. SB 10.87.38
Material māyā has three forms: pradhāna, avidyā and vidyā. The nature of pradhāna is described in the story of Jāyanteya. The various objects are created by pradhāna. They are real. The imposition of identity with bodies by the jīvas is created by avidyā. That is unreal. By vidyā that identity with the body is destroyed. These are the effects of the three śaktis. The world is made of these three. Part is true and part is untrue.
Because the jīvas are eternal and the Lord, his abode and other assistants to bhakti are beyond the material guṇas, certain portions within the material world are also eternal. However the world is described by various philosophers in various ways according to their own perspective.
kāryaṁ prādhānikaṁ satyaṁ kāryam avidyakaṁ mṛṣā |
nityaṁ tad-bhakti-sambandham idaṁ tat tritayātmakam ||
prādhānikāḥ syur dehās tad-dharmā āvidyakāḥ punaḥ |
jīveṣu tat-tat-sambando bhaktiś cen nirguṇāś ca te ||
cij-jīva-māyā nityāḥ syus tisraḥ kṛṣṇasya śaktayaḥ |
tad-vṛttayaś ca tābhiḥ sa bhāty ekaḥ parameśvaraḥ |
kārya-kāraṇayor aikyāc chakti-śaktimator api |
ekam evādvayaṁ brahma neha nānāsti kiṁcana ||
bhaktānām eva siddhāntaś catuḥślokīyam īritā |
śīlitā bhagavad-bhaktais tair eva na kilāparaiḥ ||
The products of pradhāna (and vidyā) are real. The products of avidyā are false. Those things related to the Lord and devotion are eternal. These three constitute the universe. The bodies are products of pradhāna and their nature is avidyā. If the jīvas’ bodies are related to bhakti, then they transcend the guṇas. The three śaktis of Kṛṣṇa -- cit-śakti, jīva-śakti and māyā śakti -- and their functions are eternal. The one Lord manifests his power by these śaktis. Because the effect and cause are one, and the śakti and the source of the śakti are one, it is said that there is only one, non-dual substance called brahman, and that there is no variety of objects at all in this world. This is the conclusion of the devotees, which is described in the four essential verses and cultivated by the devotees and not by others.