Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 4
Vidura’s Questions: How the Unchangeable Lord Relates to Māyā; Bhakti as the Remedy; Blueprint for the Coming Cosmology
अस्राक्षीद्भगवान् विश्वं गुणमय्यात्ममायया । तया संस्थापयत्येतद्भूय: प्रत्यपिधास्यति ॥ ४ ॥
asrākṣīd bhagavān viśvaṁ guṇa-mayyātma-māyayā tayā saṁsthāpayaty etad bhūyaḥ pratyapidhāsyati
Durch Seine eigene ātmamāyā, die aus den drei guṇas besteht, hat der Herr dieses Universum erschaffen. Durch dieselbe Kraft richtet Er es auf und erhält es, und immer wieder löst Er es erneut auf.
This cosmic universe is created by the Lord for those living entities who are carried away by the illusory thought of becoming one with Him by imitation. The three modes of material nature are for the further bewilderment of the conditioned souls. The conditioned living entity, bewildered by the illusory energy, considers himself a part of the material creation due to forgetfulness of his spiritual identity, and thus he becomes entangled in material activities life after life. This material world is not for the purpose of the Lord Himself, but is for the conditioned souls who wanted to be controllers due to misuse of their God-gifted minute independence. Thus the conditioned souls are subjected to repeated birth and death.
FAQs
This verse states that Bhagavān creates the universe by His own guṇa-mayī ātmā-māyā, maintains it by that same potency, and later withdraws and covers it again during dissolution.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is speaking to King Parīkṣit, describing the Lord’s governance of creation through His own potency.
It encourages seeing the world as fully under the Lord’s control—helping one reduce anxiety, cultivate devotion, and practice detachment by remembering that creation and change occur by His supreme arrangement.