Devanagari
वैकारिको देवसर्ग: पञ्चमो यन्मयं मन: ।
पष्ठस्तु तमस: सर्गो यस्त्वबुद्धिकृत: प्रभो: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
vaikāriko deva-sargaḥ
paṣcamo yan-mayaṁ manaḥ
ṣaṣṭhas tu tamasaḥ sargo
yas tv abuddhi-kṛtaḥ prabhoḥ
Synonyms
vaikārikaḥ
—
interaction of the mode of goodness
;
deva
—
the demigods, or controlling deities
;
sargaḥ
—
creation
;
paṣcamaḥ
—
fifth
;
yat
—
that which
;
mayam
—
sum total
;
manaḥ
—
mind
;
ṣaṣṭhaḥ
—
sixth
;
tu
—
but
;
tamasaḥ
—
of darkness
;
sargaḥ
—
creation
;
yaḥ
—
that which
;
tu
—
expletive
;
abuddhi
—
kṛtaḥ — made foolish
;
prabhoḥ
—
of the master .
Translation
The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The fifth is the creation of the sense devatās and the mind from ahaṅkāra in sattva. The sixth creation is the creation of ignorance, which is produced by the avidyā-śakti of the Lord which bewilders the jīva.
The fifth is related to the ahaṅkāra in sattva and consists of the creation of the deities presiding over the senses and the mind as well. These five are related to transformations of pradhāna. Next the creation of ignorance is described. This is a different type of undertaking. The sixth is the creation of ignorance. This was created by avidyā-śakti of the Lord which bewilders (abuddhi) the jīva.
The meaning is this. Māyā has three conditions: pradhāna, avidyā and vidyā. By pradhāna the elements from mahat-tattva to earth are created. These are real creations, by which the aggregate (samaṣṭi) and individual bodies (vyaṣṭi) of the jīvas, with gross and subtle bodies are created. By avidyā which bewilders the jīva, five types of ignorance—avidyā, asmitā, raga, devṣa and abhiniveśa-- are created. These are not real. The world, composed of real and unreal, is produced by pradhāna and avidyā. By vidyā, knowledge which destroys the five types of ignorance is created. This will explained later in the commentary.
Purport
The demigods in the higher planets are called
devas
because they are all devotees of Lord Viṣṇu.
Viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ smṛto daiva āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ:
all the devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are
devas,
or demigods, whereas all others are
asuras.
That is the division of the
devas
and the
asuras.
Devas
are situated in the mode of goodness of material nature, whereas the
asuras
are situated in the modes of passion or ignorance. The demigods, or controlling deities, are entrusted with departmental management of all the different functions of the material world. For example, one of our sense organs, the eye, is controlled by light, light is distributed by the sun rays, and their controlling deity is the sun. Similarly, mind is controlled by the moon. All other senses, both for working and for acquiring knowledge, are controlled by the different demigods. The demigods are assistants of the Lord in the management of material affairs.
After the creation of the demigods, all entities are covered by the darkness of ignorance. Each and every living being in the material world is conditioned by his mentality of lording it over the resources of material nature. Although a living entity is the master of the material world, he is conditioned by ignorance, by the false impression of being the proprietor of material things.
The energy of the Lord called
avidyā
is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called
avidyā,
or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes
vidyā,
or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā.
The energy of the Lord transforms from
mahā-māyā
to
yoga-māyā
and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge. As disclosed in the previous verse, in the fourth creation the power of knowledge is also created. The conditioned souls are not originally fools, but by the influence of the
avidyā
function of material nature they are made fools, and thus they are unable to utilize knowledge in the proper channel.
By the influence of darkness, the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Lord and is overwhelmed by attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance and false identification, the five kinds of illusion that cause material bondage.