Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 23
Parīkṣit’s Comprehensive Inquiries and the Bhāgavata as Śabda-avatāra
यथात्मतन्त्रो भगवान् विक्रीडत्यात्ममायया । विसृज्य वा यथा मायामुदास्ते साक्षिवद् विभु: ॥ २३ ॥
yathātma-tantro bhagavān vikrīḍaty ātma-māyayā visṛjya vā yathā māyām udāste sākṣivad vibhuḥ
至高人格神完全自主，凭其内在能量（ātma-māyā）享受诸般戏游；而在毁灭之时，祂将其交付外在幻力，并以全能之主的身份如同见证者般超然旁观一切。
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and fountainhead of all other incarnations, is the only independent person. He enjoys His pastimes by creation as He desires and gives them up to the external energy at the time of annihilation. By His internal potency only, He kills the demon Pūtanā, even though enjoying His pastimes in the lap of His mother Yaśodā. And when He desires to leave this world He creates the pastimes of killing His own family members (Yadu-kula) and remains unaffected by such annihilation. He is the witness of everything that is happening, and yet He has nothing to do with anything. He is independent in every respect. Mahārāja Parīkṣit desired to know more perfectly, for a pure devotee ought to know well.
FAQs
This verse explains that māyā is the Lord’s own potency used for His līlā, yet He is never controlled by it; He can withdraw it and remain completely detached as the witness.
To clarify to King Parīkṣit that although the Lord manifests and governs creation through His energy, He Himself remains transcendental—uninvolved like a witness, untouched by material influence.
By remembering that God is beyond material ups and downs, a devotee learns steadiness: engage the world responsibly, but cultivate inner detachment and devotion, seeing oneself under the Lord’s guidance rather than ruled by circumstance.