Shloka 43
Chapter 54
आत्ममोहो नृणामेव कल्पते देवमायया ।
सुहृद्दुहृदुदासीन इति देहात्ममानिनाम् ॥
ātma-moho nṛṇām eva kalpate deva-māyayā / suhṛd durhṛd udāsīna iti dehātma-māninām //
By the Lord’s divine māyā, self-delusion arises in human beings—especially in those who identify the self with the body—so that they see others as ‘friend,’ ‘enemy,’ or ‘indifferent.’
This verse diagnoses the root of social conflict: dehātma-buddhi, the mistaken conviction that the body is the self. Once consciousness is confined to bodily identity—nationality, clan, gender, status—relationships are automatically sorted into three mental categories: ally, adversary, and neutral. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam attributes this not to the soul’s nature but to deva-māyā, the Lord’s external energy that covers true spiritual vision. In the narrative context of Canto 10, the Bhāgavatam repeatedly shows how political rivalry and family pride flare into violence when kings and warriors act from bodily identification. The teaching here is not mere ethics; it is metaphysics: the soul is by nature related to the Supreme Lord, and when that relationship is forgotten, the mind manufactures divisions. Bhakti restores the original vision—seeing every being as an ātmā under the Supreme ātmā—and thus dissolves envy and possessiveness at the root, not merely at the surface level. Practically, the verse invites the reader to shift identity from ‘I am this body’ to ‘I am an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.’ From that standpoint, compassion and steadiness become possible even amid worldly disagreements, because the devotee learns to distinguish the person (ātmā) from the temporary costume (deha).
FAQs
It says this division arises from dehātma-buddhi—identifying the self with the body—under the influence of the Lord’s māyā.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is explaining to King Parīkṣit how illusion produces worldly dualities like friend, enemy, and neutral.
By remembering we are souls (not labels of body or group), we reduce envy and polarization and act with steadiness through bhakti-centered identity.