Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 1
Bondage and Liberation Under Māyā; Two Birds Analogy; Marks of the Saintly Devotee
श्रीभगवानुवाच बद्धो मुक्त इति व्याख्या गुणतो मे न वस्तुत: । गुणस्य मायामूलत्वान्न मे मोक्षो न बन्धनम् ॥ १ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca baddho mukta iti vyākhyā guṇato me na vastutaḥ guṇasya māyā-mūlatvān na me mokṣo na bandhanam
શ્રીભગવાન બોલ્યા—હે ઉદ્ધવ! મારા અધિન પ્રકૃતિના ગુણોના પ્રભાવથી જીવને ક્યારેક ‘બદ્ધ’ અને ક્યારેક ‘મુક્ત’ કહેવામાં આવે છે; પરંતુ વાસ્તવમાં એવું નથી. ગુણો માયામૂલ છે અને હું માયાનો પરમેશ્વર છું; તેથી મને ન બંધન છે ન મોક્ષ।
In this chapter the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, explains the different characteristics of conditioned and liberated life, the symptoms by which one can recognize saintly persons, and the various processes of devotional service to the Lord. In the previous chapter, Uddhava inquired from the Lord how conditioned and liberated life are possible. The Lord now replies that Uddhava’s question is somewhat superficial, since the pure spirit soul is never entangled in the material energy of the Lord. The living entity imagines a false connection with the three modes of nature and accepts the material body as the self. The living entity therefore suffers the consequences of his own imagination, just as one suffers the illusory activities of a dream. This does not indicate that the material world is illusory in the sense that it is nonexistent. The material world is certainly real, being the potency of the Personality of Godhead, and the living entity, being the superior potency of God, is also real. But the living entity’s dream of being part and parcel of the material world is an illusion that drags him into the contradictory state called material conditioned life. The living entity is never actually baddha, or bound up, since he merely imagines a false connection with the material world.
FAQs
This verse states that ‘bondage’ and ‘liberation’ are labels that apply only in relation to material modes; the Lord is never actually bound or liberated because He is always transcendental.
Because the guṇas belong to māyā, which is under His control; therefore the conditions produced by the guṇas—bondage and release—do not touch His real nature.
It encourages seeing bondage and freedom as states linked to material conditioning (guṇas) and inspires spiritual practice to rise beyond those modes by taking shelter of the Lord.