Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 2
Bondage and Liberation Under Māyā; Two Birds Analogy; Marks of the Saintly Devotee
शोकमोहौ सुखं दु:खं देहापत्तिश्च मायया । स्वप्नो यथात्मन: ख्याति: संसृतिर्न तु वास्तवी ॥ २ ॥
śoka-mohau sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ dehāpattiś ca māyayā svapno yathātmanaḥ khyātiḥ saṁsṛtir na tu vāstavī
Kummer und Verblendung, Glück und Leid sowie das Annehmen eines materiellen Körpers unter dem Einfluss der māyā — all dies ist eine Schöpfung Meiner illusorischen Energie. Wie ein Traum nur eine Hervorbringung des Geistes ist und keine wirkliche Substanz besitzt, so hat auch die materielle Existenz keine wesentliche Wirklichkeit.
The word deha-āpattiḥ indicates that the living entity falsely identifies himself with the external material body and thus transmigrates from one body to another. Āpatti also indicates great suffering or misfortune. Because of such false identification under the influence of illusion, the living entity experiences the miserable symptoms described here. Māyā means the false concept that anything can exist without Lord Kṛṣṇa or for any purpose other than the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. Although the conditioned living entities are trying to enjoy material sense gratification, the result is always painful, and such painful experiences turn the conditioned soul back toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, the ultimate purpose of the material creation is to bring the living entity back to the loving devotional service of the Lord. Therefore, even the sufferings of the material world may be seen as the transcendental mercy of the Personality of Godhead. The conditioned soul, imagining that material objects are meant for his personal enjoyment, bitterly laments the loss of such objects. In this verse, the example is given of a dream in which the material intelligence creates many illusory objects. Similarly, our polluted material consciousness creates the false impression of material sense gratification, but this phantasmagoria, being devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, has no real existence. By surrendering to polluted material consciousness, the living entity is afflicted with innumerable troubles. The only solution is to see Lord Kṛṣṇa within everything and everything within Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus, one understands that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer, the proprietor of everything and the well-wishing friend of all living beings.
FAQs
This verse states that sorrow, delusion, pleasure, pain, and even bodily identification arise from the Lord’s māyā—temporary experiences that appear real but are not ultimate truth.
Krishna uses the dream analogy to show that material existence is an appearance within consciousness: it is experienced, but it lacks permanent, ultimate reality when one awakens to the self and the Lord.
Treat emotional highs and lows as temporary, reduce obsessive identification with the body and circumstances, and anchor daily life in devotion and remembrance of Krishna to gain steadiness and clarity.