Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 7
Chapter 19
त्वय्युद्धवाश्रयति यस्त्रिविधो विकारो
मायान्तरापतति नाद्यपवर्गयोर्वयत् ।
जन्मादयोऽस्य यदमी तव तस्य किं स्युर्
आद्यन्तयोऱ्यदसतोऽस्ति तदेव मध्ये ॥
tvayy uddhavāśrayati yas tri-vidho vikāro $ māyāntarāpatati nādy-apavargayor yat & janmādayo 'sya yad amī tava tasya kiṃ syur % ādy-antayor yad asato 'sti tad eva madhye //
Ô Uddhava, la triple transformation—création, maintien et dissolution—repose sur Toi. La māyā, placée entre le commencement et la fin, ne Te touche pas, car Tu es au-delà de l’asservissement comme de la délivrance. Si l’on voit dans le monde la naissance et d’autres changements, ils appartiennent à cette māyā : que peuvent-ils signifier pour Toi ? Ce qui est irréel n’apparaît que dans l’intervalle entre son début et sa fin.
In this verse, the Supreme Lord clarifies His transcendence over the changing world. The "threefold transformation" refers to the visible phases of material existence—sarga (creation), sthiti (maintenance) and pralaya (dissolution). Though these appear to proceed under the shelter of the Lord (because nothing can exist without His support), they do not imply that He is transformed or affected. Māyā is described as "in-between"—it operates within the temporal realm, where things have a beginning and an end. The Lord, however, is not a product of time; He is the foundation of time. Therefore māyā cannot "fall upon" Him, and the dualities of bondage and liberation (which apply to the jīva under māyā’s influence) do not apply to the Supreme. The verse also teaches a core Bhāgavata principle: what is "asat" (temporary, unreal in the ultimate sense) appears real only for a limited duration. The world is not denied as a practical experience, but it is understood as dependent reality—existing by the Lord’s support and perceived through māyā—whereas the Lord’s existence is independent, eternal, and unchanged. Devotional implication: a seeker should stop projecting material categories—birth, change, limitation—onto Bhagavān. Real knowledge culminates in bhakti, where one relates to the Lord as the unchanging shelter of all shelters.
FAQs
This verse explains that māyā operates only within the realm of beginnings and endings, while the Supreme Lord remains untouched—He supports the world’s changes but is never changed by them.
Because birth and transformation belong to the temporary world under māyā; Kṛṣṇa is the eternal shelter of that world and is beyond the dualities of bondage and liberation.
By seeing life’s changes as temporary and taking shelter in the unchanging Lord through bhakti—reducing anxiety and strengthening spiritual focus.