Shloka 9
Vidura’s Questions: How the Unchangeable Lord Relates to Māyā; Bhakti as the Remedy; Blueprint for the Coming Cosmology
मैत्रेय उवाच सेयं भगवतो माया यन्नयेन विरुध्यते । ईश्वरस्य विमुक्तस्य कार्पण्यमुत बन्धनम् ॥ ९ ॥
maitreya uvāca seyaṁ bhagavato māyā yan nayena virudhyate īśvarasya vimuktasya kārpaṇyam uta bandhanam
Sinabi ni Śrī Maitreya: Ito ang māyā ng Bhagavān—may ilan na nagsasabing ang Panginoon ay malaya, ngunit kasabay nito’y iginigiit na Siya’y may kahinaan at pagkakagapos. Salungat ito sa katuwiran.
Sometimes it appears that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one-hundred-percent spiritual, cannot be the cause of the illusory potency which covers the knowledge of the individual soul. But factually there is no doubt that the illusory, external energy is also part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. When Vyāsadeva realized the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he saw the Lord along with His external potency, which covers the pure knowledge of the individual living entities. Why the external energy acts in this way may be considered as follows, as analyzed by great commentators like Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. Although the material, illusory energy is distinct from the spiritual energy, it is one of the many energies of the Lord, and thus the material modes of nature (the mode of goodness, etc.) are surely qualities of the Lord. The energy and the energetic Personality of Godhead are not different, and although such energy is one with the Lord, He is never overpowered by it. Although the living entities are also parts and parcels of the Lord, they are overcome by the material energy. The inconceivable yogam aiśvaram of the Lord, as mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā (9.5) , is misunderstood by the froggish philosophers. In order to support a theory that Nārāyaṇa (the Lord Himself) becomes a daridra-nārāyaṇa, a poor man, they propose that the material energy overcomes the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, however, offer a very nice example in explanation. They say that although the sun is all light, the clouds, darkness and snowfall are all part and parcel of the sun. Without the sun there is no possibility of the sky’s being overcast with clouds or darkness, nor can there be snowfall on the earth. Although life is sustained by the sun, life is also disturbed by darkness and snowfall produced by the sun. But it is also a fact that the sun itself is never overcome by darkness, clouds or snowfall; the sun is far, far away from such disturbances. Only those who have a poor fund of knowledge say that the sun is covered by a cloud or by darkness. Similarly, the Supreme Brahman, or the Parabrahman, the Personality of Godhead, is always unaffected by the influence of the material energy, although it is one of His energies ( parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate ).
FAQs
This verse says māyā is the Lord’s potency that can make even contradictions appear fitting—such as the ever-liberated Lord seeming to experience helplessness or bondage.
Maitreya attributes it to Bhagavan’s māyā: the Lord remains transcendently free, yet by His own power He manifests humanlike conditions to accomplish His purposes and reveal līlā.
It trains a devotee to see beyond surface contradictions—trusting that the Divine can work through paradox—while remaining steady in bhakti rather than being disturbed by appearances.