In the spiritual world, there is another energy, the superior spiritual energy, or internal energy, which acts under the direction of yogamāyā. Yogamāyā is the internal potency of the Supreme Lord; she also works under the Lord's direction, but she works in the spiritual world. When the living entity puts himself under the direction of yogamāyā instead of mahāmāyā, he gradually becomes a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Yet those who are after material opulence and material happiness place themselves under the care of the material energy, mahāmāyā, or under the care of material demigods like Lord Śiva and others. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is found that when the gopīs of Vṛndāvana desired Kṛṣṇa as their husband, they prayed to the spiritual energy, yogamāyā, for the fulfillment of their desire. In the Sapta-śatī it is found that King Suratha and a merchant named Samādhi worshiped mahāmāyā for material opulence. Thus one should not mistakenly equalize yogamāyā and mahāmāyā.
Mahamaya and yogamaya
Expressions researched:
"mahamaya"
|"yogamaya"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
The energy of the Lord called avidyā is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called avidyā, or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes vidyā, or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. The energy of the Lord transforms from mahāmāyā to yogamāyā and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge. As disclosed in the previous verse, in the fourth creation the power of knowledge is also created. The conditioned souls are not originally fools, but by the influence of the avidyā function of material nature they are made fools, and thus they are unable to utilize knowledge in the proper channel.
The sages were almost too puzzled to speak before the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the first time, and the hairs of their bodies stood erect due to their extreme joy. The highest opulence in the material world is called pārameṣṭhya, the opulence of Brahmā. But that material opulence of Brahmā, who lives on the topmost planet within this material world, cannot compare to the opulence of the Supreme Lord because the transcendental opulence in the spiritual world is caused by yogamāyā, whereas the opulence in the material world is caused by mahāmāyā.
SB Canto 4
In this verse the word māyayā means "by your causeless mercy." The Māyāvādī philosophers explain the word māyā as meaning "illusion" or "falseness." However, there is another meaning of māyā—that is, "causeless mercy." There are two kinds of māyā-yogamāyā and mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā is an expansion of yogamāyā, and both these māyās are different expressions of the Lord's internal potencies. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord appears through His internal potencies (ātma-māyayā). We should therefore reject the Māyāvāda explanation that the Lord appears in a body given by the external potency, the material energy. The Lord and His incarnation are fully independent and can appear anywhere and everywhere by virtue of the internal potency. Although born out of the so-called dead body of King Vena, King Pṛthu was still an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the Lord's internal potency. The Lord can appear in any family. Sometimes He appears as a fish incarnation (matsya-avatāra) or a boar incarnation (varāha-avatāra). Thus the Lord is completely free and independent to appear anywhere and everywhere by His internal potency.
SB Canto 7
The bodies of the inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha are completely spiritual, having nothing to do with the material body, senses or life air. Therefore, kindly explain how associates of the Personality of Godhead were cursed to descend in material bodies like ordinary persons."
This very significant question would be difficult for an ordinary person to answer, but Nārada Muni, being an authority, could answer it. Therefore Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from him, saying, etad ākhyātum arhasi: "only you can explain the reason." From authoritative sources it can be discerned that associates of Lord Viṣṇu who descend from Vaikuṇṭha do not actually fall. They come with the purpose of fulfilling the desire of the Lord, and their descent to this material world is comparable to that of the Lord. The Lord comes to this material world through the agency of His internal potency, and similarly, when a devotee or associate of the Lord descends to this material world, he does so through the action of the spiritual energy. Any pastime conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is an arrangement by yogamāyā, not mahāmāyā. Therefore it is to be understood that when Jaya and Vijaya descended to this material world, they came because there was something to be done for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise it is a fact that no one falls from Vaikuṇṭha.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
The potency of the Lord, known as viṣṇu-māyā, who is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, will also appear with Lord Kṛṣṇa. This potency, acting in different capacities, captivates all the worlds, both material and spiritual. At the request of her master, she will appear with her different potencies in order to execute the work of the Lord."
Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). In the Vedas it is said that the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called by different names, such as yogamāyā and mahāmāyā. Ultimately, however, the Lord's potency is one, exactly as electric potency is one although it can act both to cool and to heat. The Lord's potency acts in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the spiritual world the Lord's potency works as yogamāyā, and in the material world the same potency works as mahāmāyā, exactly as electricity works in both a heater and a cooler. In the material world, this potency, working as mahāmāyā, acts upon the conditioned souls to deprive them more and more of devotional service. It is said, yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam (SB 1.7.5). In the material world the conditioned soul thinks of himself as a product of tri-guṇa, the three modes of material nature. This is the bodily conception of life. Because of associating with the three guṇas of the material potency, everyone identifies himself with his body. Someone is thinking he is a brāhmaṇa, someone a kṣatriya, and someone a vaiśya or śūdra. Actually, however, one is neither a brāhmaṇa, a kṣatriya, a vaiśya nor a śūdra; one is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord (mamaivāṁśaḥ), but because of being covered by the material energy, mahāmāyā, one identifies himself in these different ways. When the conditioned soul becomes liberated, however, he thinks himself an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa.' (CC Madhya 20.108). When he comes to that position, the same potency, acting as yogamāyā, increasingly helps him become purified and devote his energy to the service of the Lord.
Thus the Lord's potency, viṣṇu-māyā, has two features—āvaraṇikā and unmukha. When the Lord appeared, His potency came with Him and acted in different ways. She acted as yogamāyā with Yaśodā, Devakī and other intimate relations of the Lord, and she acted in a different way with Kaṁsa, Śālva and other asuras. By the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, His potency yogamāyā came with Him and exhibited different activities according to the time and circumstances. Kāryārthe sambhaviṣyati. Yogamāyā acted differently to execute different purposes desired by the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.13), mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. The mahātmās, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord, are directed by yogamāyā, whereas the durātmās, those who are devoid of devotional service, are directed by mahāmāyā.
The word kāryārthe refers to one who attracted the pregnancy of Devakī and bewildered mother Yaśodā. These pastimes are very confidential. The Supreme Personality of Godhead ordered yogamāyā to bewilder His associates in His pastimes and bewilder demons like Kaṁsa. As stated previously, yogamāyāṁ samādiśat. To give service to the Lord, yogamāyā appeared along with mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā refers to yayā sammohitaṁ jagat, "one who bewilders the entire material world." From this statement it is to be understood that yogamāyā, in her partial expansion, becomes mahāmāyā and bewilders the conditioned souls. In other words, the entire creation has two divisions-transcendental, or spiritual, and material. Yogamāyā manages the spiritual world, and by her partial expansion as mahāmāyā she manages the material world. As stated in the Nārada-pañcarātra, mahāmāyā is a partial expansion of yogamāyā. The Nārada-pañcarātra clearly states that the Supreme Personality has one potency, which is sometimes described as Durgā. The Brahma-saṁhitā says, chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā is not different from yogamāyā. When one understands Durgā properly, he is immediately liberated, for Durgā is originally the spiritual potency, hlādinī-śakti, by whose mercy one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. Rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktir asmād (CC Adi 1.5). The mahāmāyā-śakti, however, is a covering of yogamāyā, and she is therefore called the covering potency. By this covering potency, the entire material world is bewildered (yayā sammohitaṁ jagat). In conclusion, bewildering the conditioned souls and liberating the devotees are both functions belonging to yogamāyā. Transferring the pregnancy of Devakī and keeping mother Yaśodā in deep sleep were both done by yogamāyā; mahāmāyā cannot act upon such devotees, for they are always liberated. But although it is not possible for mahāmāyā to control liberated souls or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she did bewilder Kaṁsa. The action of yogamāyā in presenting herself before Kaṁsa was the action of mahāmāyā, not yogamāyā. Yogamāyā cannot even see or touch such polluted persons as Kaṁsa. In Caṇḍī, in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Eleventh Chapter, Mahāmāyā says, "During the twenty-eighth yuga in the period of Vaivasvata Manu, I shall take birth as the daughter of Yaśodā and be known as Vindhyācala-vāsinī."
The distinction between the two māyās-yogamāyā and mahā-māyā-is described as follows. Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā with the gopīs and the gopīs' bewilderment in respect to their husbands, fathers-in-law and other such relatives were arrangements of yogamāyā in which mahāmāyā had no influence. The Bhāgavatam gives sufficient evidence of this when it clearly says, yogamāyām upāśritaḥ. On the other hand, there were asuras headed by Śālva and kṣatriyas like Duryodhana who were bereft of devotional service in spite of seeing Kṛṣṇa's carrier Garuḍa and the universal form, and who could not understand Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This was also bewilderment, but this bewilderment was due to mahāmāyā. Therefore it is to be concluded that the māyā which drags a person from the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called jaḍamāyā, and the māyā which acts on the transcendental platform is called yogamāyā. When Nanda Mahārāja was taken away by Varuṇa, he saw Kṛṣṇa's opulence, but nonetheless he thought of Kṛṣṇa as his son. Such feelings of parental love in the spiritual world are acts of yogamāyā, not of jaḍamāyā, or mahāmāyā. This is the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has remarked that the watchmen were just like dogs. At night the dogs in the street act like watchmen. If one dog barks, many other dogs immediately follow it by barking. Although the street dogs are not appointed by anyone to act as watchmen, they think they are responsible for protecting the neighborhood, and as soon as someone unknown enters it, they all begin to bark. Both Yogamāyā and Mahāmāyā act in all material activities (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)), but although the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead acts under the Supreme Lord's direction (mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10)), doglike watchmen such as politicians and diplomats think that they are protecting their neighborhoods from the dangers of the outside world. These are the actions of māyā. But one who surrenders to Kṛṣṇa is relieved of the protection afforded by the dogs and doglike guardians of this material world.
The Vedic scripture Caṇḍī describes māyā, the energy of the Supreme Lord, as nidrā: durgā devī sarva-bhūteṣu nidrā-rūpeṇa samāsthitaḥ. The energy of Yogamāyā and Mahāmāyā keeps the living entities sleeping in this material world in the great darkness of ignorance. Yogamāyā, the goddess Durgā, kept Kaṁsa in darkness about Kṛṣṇa's birth and misled him to believe that his enemy Kṛṣṇa had been born elsewhere. Kṛṣṇa was born the son of Devakī, but according to the Lord's original plan, as prophesied to Brahmā, He went to Vṛndāvana to give pleasure to mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja and other intimate friends and devotees for eleven years. Then He would return to kill Kaṁsa. Because Kaṁsa did not know this, he believed Yogamāyā's statement that Kṛṣṇa was born elsewhere, not of Devakī.
Although mother Yaśodā understood the whole philosophy of life, at the next moment she was overwhelmed by affection for her son by the influence of yogamāyā. Unless she took care of her son Kṛṣṇa, she thought, how could He be protected? She could not think otherwise, and thus she forgot all her philosophical speculations. This forgetfulness is described by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura as being inspired by the influence of yogamāyā (mohana-sādharmyān māyām). Materialistic persons are captivated by mahāmāyā, whereas devotees, by the arrangement of the spiritual energy, are captivated by yogamāyā.
Kṛṣṇa usually stayed in the forest and pasturing ground, taking care of the calves and cows with His associates the cowherd boys. Now that the original group had been taken away by Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa Himself assumed the forms of every member of the group, without anyone's knowledge, even the knowledge of Baladeva, and continued the usual program. He was ordering His friends to do this and that, and He was controlling the calves and going into the forest to search for them when they went astray, allured by new grass, but these calves and boys were He Himself. This was Kṛṣṇa's inconceivable potency. As explained by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmāt. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the same. Kṛṣṇa, by expanding His pleasure potency, becomes Rādhārāṇī. The same pleasure potency (ānanda-cinmaya-rasa) was expanded by Kṛṣṇa when He Himself became all the calves and boys and enjoyed transcendental bliss in Vrajabhūmi. This was done by the yogamāyā potency and was inconceivable to persons under the potency of mahāmāyā.
The cows had younger calves who had started sucking milk from their mothers, and some of the cows had newly given birth, but now, because of love, the cows enthusiastically showed their affection for the older calves, which had left off milking. These calves were grown up, but still the mothers wanted to feed them. Therefore Balarāma was a little surprised, and He wanted to inquire from Kṛṣṇa about the reason for their behavior. The mothers were actually more anxious to feed the older calves, although the new calves were present, because the older calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa. These surprising events were taking place by the manipulation of yogamāyā. There are two māyās working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa-mahāmāyā, the energy of the material world, and yogamāyā, the energy of the spiritual world. These uncommon events were taking place because of the influence of yogamāyā. From the very day on which Brahmā stole the calves and boys, yogamāyā acted in such a way that the residents of Vṛndāvana, including even Lord Balarāma, could not understand how yogamāyā was working and causing such uncommon things to happen. But as yogamāyā gradually acted, Balarāma in particular was able to understand what was happening, and therefore He inquired from Kṛṣṇa.
The Supreme Brahman is beyond mental speculation, He is self-manifest, existing in His own bliss, and He is beyond the material energy. He is known by the crest jewels of the Vedas by refutation of irrelevant knowledge. Thus in relation to that Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead, whose glory had been shown by the manifestation of all the four-armed forms of Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā, the lord of Sarasvatī, was mystified. "What is this?" he thought, and then he was not even able to see. Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding Brahmā's position, then at once removed the curtain of His yogamāyā."'
Brahmā was completely mystified. He could not understand what he was seeing, and then he was not even able to see. Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding Brahmā's position, then removed that yogamāyā covering. In this verse, Brahmā is referred to as ireśa. Irā means Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, and Ireśa is her husband, Lord Brahmā. Brahmā, therefore, is most intelligent. But even Brahmā, the lord of Sarasvatī, was bewildered about Kṛṣṇa. Although he tried, he could not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the beginning the boys, the calves and Kṛṣṇa Himself had been covered by yogamāyā, which later displayed the second set of calves and boys, who were Kṛṣṇa's expansions, and which then displayed so many four-armed forms. Now, seeing Brahmā's bewilderment, Lord Kṛṣṇa caused the disappearance of that yogamāyā. One may think that the māyā taken away by Lord Kṛṣṇa was mahāmāyā, but Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments that it was yogamāyā, the potency by which Kṛṣṇa is sometimes manifest and sometimes not manifest. The potency which covers the actual reality and displays something unreal is mahāmāyā, but the potency by which the Absolute Truth is sometimes manifest and sometimes not is yogamāyā. Therefore, in this verse the word ajā refers to yogamāyā.
Kṛṣṇa's power is variegated, and thus the same śakti, or potency, works in variegated ways. Vividhā means "varieties." There is unity in variety. Thus yogamāyā and mahāmāyā are among the varied individual parts of the same one potency, and all of these individual potencies work in their own varied ways. The saṁvit, sandhinī and āhlādinī potencies—Kṛṣṇa's potency for existence, His potency for knowledge and His potency for pleasure—are distinct from yogamāyā. Each is an individual potency. The āhlādinī potency is Rādhārāṇī. As Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī has explained, rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmāt (CC Adi 1.5). The āhlādinī-śakti is manifested as Rādhārāṇī, but Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī are the same, although one is potent and the other is potency.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
Following the example of the gopīs, the devotees sometimes worship the goddess Kātyāyanī, but they understand that Kātyāyanī is an incarnation of Yogamāyā. The gopīs worshiped Kātyāyanī, Yogamāyā, to attain Kṛṣṇa as their husband. On the other hand, it is stated in the Sapta-śatī scripture that a kṣatriya king named Suratha and a rich vaiśya named Samādhi worshiped material nature in the form of goddess Durgā to attain material perfection. If one tries to mingle the worship of Yogamāyā with that of Mahāmāyā, considering them one and the same, he does not really show very high intelligence. The idea that everything is one is a kind of foolishness indulged in by those with less brain substance. Fools and rascals say that the worship of Yogamāyā and the worship of Mahāmāyā are the same. This conclusion is simply the result of mental speculation, and it has no practical effect. In the material world, sometimes one gives an exalted title to an utterly worthless thing; in Bengal this is known as giving a blind child a name like Padmalocana, which means "lotus-eyed." One may foolishly call a blind child Padmalocana, but such an appellation does not bear any meaning.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
The words used in this connection in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are bhagavān api. This means that although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus has no desire that needs to be fulfilled (because He is always full with six opulences), He still wanted to enjoy the company of the gopīs in the rāsa dance. Bhagavān api signifies that this dance is not like the ordinary dancing of young boys and young girls. The specific words used in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are yogamāyām upāśritaḥ, which mean that this dancing with the gopīs is on the platform of yogamāyā, not mahāmāyā. The dancing of young boys and girls within the material world is in the kingdom of mahāmāyā, or the external energy. The rāsa dance of Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs is on the platform of yogamāyā. The difference between the platforms of yogamāyā and mahāmāyā is compared in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta to the difference between gold and iron. From the viewpoint of metallurgy, gold and iron are both metals, but the quality is completely different. Similarly, although the rāsa dance and Lord Kṛṣṇa's association with the gopīs appear like the ordinary mixing of young boys and girls, the quality is completely different. The difference is appreciated by great Vaiṣṇavas because they can understand the difference between love of Kṛṣṇa and lust.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Devotee: Well, I don't fully understand in this... Something about Subhadrā. Is the relation to...?
Prabhupāda: Subhadrā? Subhadrā is the sister of Kṛṣṇa, and she is incarnation of Durgā.
Devotee: Subhadrā is the external, external energy? Is Subhadrā in the spiritual world? Is Subhadrā in the spiritual world?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes.
Devotee: She's in the spiritual world?
Prabhupāda: No. In one sense, she is also in spiritual world because she is energy of Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa's energy is also eternal. So wherever Kṛṣṇa is there, His energy is there. But her activities are in the material world.
Just like a king is there, and he has got all kinds of officers with him, but some officer is engaged in the government house. Other officers, they are engaged outside the government house. The officers who have got engagement outside the government house they may be sitting with Kṛṣṇa, may be sitting with the governor or the king, but he has no business within the government house. In the government house there is a particular secretary, particular man in charge.
Similarly, in the spiritual world, the energy which is working, that is called yogamāyā. And in the material world, the energy which is working, that is called mahāmāyā. So Subhadrā is... Viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā (CC Madhya 6.154). Actually, Kṛṣṇa's energy is spiritual. That is not material.
But we can get out of this material energy by bhagavad-bhakti. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etān taranti te. By our surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, we can get out of these clutches of external energy and again become under the internal energy. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivī prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Now we are under the influence of mahāmāyā. When we put ourselves under the influence of yogamāyā, then we again go back to home, back to Godhead. So this is a great science and Vedic literature profusely has described this science, how to get out of these clutches of external energy. That Kṛṣṇa says in the next verse, ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītam.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
The actual fact is that we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, we have forgotten it, and therefore we have become servant of māyā. We are suffering, and Kṛṣṇa, out of His kindness, He comes to prove that the living entities are eternal servant and He is the eternal master. Still, because they are contaminated, contaminated by the yogamāyā, contaminated by māyā, mahāmāyā... Mahāmāyā. Yā devī sarva-bhūteṣu nidrā-rūpeṇa saṁśritā(?). Mahāmāyā. This material energy is described in the Chandi, yā devī sarva-bhūteṣu nidrā-rūpeṇa saṁśritā(?). (S)he's keeping everyone in sleeping, more dozes. Utthiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpta varān nibodhata. And therefore Veda says that "Don't sleep. Get up, rascal. Get up. This is the opportunity." But no. Yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Yogamāyā is keeping him in sleeping condition. Nidrālasya. So we should be very careful. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also: jīv jago jīv jago gauracandra bole. The Gauracandra's mission is to awaken the conditioned soul. Jīv jago jīv jago gauracandra... Kota nidrā yāo māyā-piśācīra kole. How long we shall sleep? We are thinking that "I am sleeping at the lap of my beloved mother." Don't do this. Get up. The Vedic vācana: utthiṣṭhata jagrāta prāpta varān nibodhata. We should be very careful that we have got this body, human form of body, and we should not sleep. Sleeping means ignorance. Māyā andha-kara. Just like at night we sleep because it is darkness. But during daytime we do not sleep, generally. That is the way.
General Lectures
Upendra: Prabhupāda, can you explain mahāmāyā and yogamāyā? Was Arjuna under yogamāyā or mahāmāyā?
Prabhupāda: Arjuna, when he was thinking in terms of his personal sense gratification, he was under mahāmāyā. And when he agreed to execute the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then he's under yogamāyā.
Upendra: How is it Arjuna, if he was eternally liberated...
Prabhupāda: Because he is living entity, he is marginal. There is chance of... Marginal means... I have explained several times. Just like the land. Between the ocean and the land, there is a portion of land which is sometime merged within water, sometimes it is land. So a living entity's position is like that, marginal energy. He may be under the influence of yogamāyā or he may be under the influence of mahāmāyā. When he is under the influence of mahāmāyā, that is his conditional life. And when he is under the influence of yogamāyā, he's free.
Yogamāyā? Yogamāyā means that which connects you. Yoga means connection. When you are being gradually advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the action of yogamāyā. And when you are gradually forgetting Kṛṣṇa, that is the action of mahāmāyā. Māyā is acting upon you. The one is dragging you, and one is pushing you opposite way. Yogamāyā. So, just like the example, that you are always under the laws of government. You cannot deny. If you say, "I don't agree to abide by the laws of government," that is not possible. But when you are a criminal, you are under the police laws, and when you are gentleman, you are under the civil laws. The laws are there. In any situation, you have to obey the laws of government. If you remain as a civilized citizen, then you are always protected by the civil law. But as soon as you are against the state, the criminal law will act upon you. So the criminal activities of law is mahāmāyā, threefold miseries, always. Always putting in some sort of misery. And the civil department of Kṛṣṇa, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. You simply go on increasing the, I mean to say, depth of the ocean of joy. Ānandambudhi-vardhanam. That is the difference, yogamāyā and mahāmāyā.
Yogamāyā is... Yogamāyā, the original yogamāyā, is Kṛṣṇa's internal potency. That is Rādhārāṇī. And mahāmāyā is external potency, Durgā. This Durgā is explained in Brahma-saṁhitā, sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). Durgā is the superintending goddess of this whole material world. Everything is going on under his, under her control. Prakṛti, prakṛti is energy. Energy is accepted as feminine. Just like these materialistic persons, they are also working under some energy. What is that energy? The sex life. That's all. They're troubling so much: "Oh, at night I'll have sex life." That's all. That is the energy. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). Their life is based on the sex. That's all. Everyone is working so hard, culminating in sex. That's all. This is material life. So energy. The material energy means sex. So that is energy. If a person who is working in the factory, if you stop sex, he cannot work. And when he's unable to enjoy sex life, then he takes intoxication. This is material life. So energy must be there. Here in the material world the energy is sex, and in the spiritual world the energy is love. Here the love is misrepresented in sex. That is not love; that is lust. Love is only possible with Kṛṣṇa, nowhere else. Nowhere else love is possible. That is misrepresentation of love. That is lust. So love and lust. Love is yogamāyā, and lust is mahāmāyā. That's all.
Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). You have to take shelter; therefore you are marginal. You have to take shelter of the material energy or the spiritual energy. When you take shelter of the material energy, you materially develop. When you take spiritual energy, you spiritually develop. That's all. Therefore your position is marginal. Daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. Mahātmā, those who are mahātmās, they have given up. The Māyāvādī philosopher thinks that as soon as he has given up, liberated from the matter, now he has become God. No. You give up this material energy, you have to take up spiritual energy. Mahāmāyā, yogamāyā. Yes.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: The mothers were more anxious to feed the older calves, although the new calves were present, because the older calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa. This was surprising.
Pradyumna: (Sanskrit-paśyato' pi to yoga-māyaiva)
Prabhupāda: No, just explain it. These were happening by the yogamāyā's manipulations. It is not generally happening, but on account of yogamāyā, it was so happening. Two māyās are working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa: the mahāmāyā, this material world; and yogamāyā, the spiritual world. So this uncommon thing was happening on account of yogamāyā's influence.
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
Sri Krishna Caitanya preached as one of the Vaisnava acaryas like Ramanujacarya and others and His mission was to establish the same theory of deliverance as was propounded by Sri Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord personally described as to the method of approaching Him, His real features, His different Potencies known as the mahamaya and the yogamaya, His virat appearance His method of creation maintenance and destruction of the material world, information of the transcendental world which does not annihilate even after the annihilation of the material world. The living entities souls, the process of migration of the souls the description of the mahatmas, their duties and lastly the duty of everybody after elaborate elucidation of the three modes of nature, satya raja tama and the different human races, work, knowledge, devotion, worship activities under the influence of such modes of nature. In the Bhagavad-gita a clear distinction has been made between the asura prakrti and daiva prakrti and He has vehemently deprecated the demonic or asuric prakrti and eulogized the daiva prakrti.
1968 Correspondence
Subhadra is yogamaya. The spiritual energy is called yogamaya. And she has 16 different expansions. Out of these 16 expansions, Subhadra is one. The mahamaya of the material energy is also expansion of the energy of yogamaya; and both yogamaya and mahamaya are equally important to Krishna as much as any government department is equally important for functioning of the government. The police department may be horrible for the criminals, but to the government it is a department as good as university department. Similarly, mahamaya is horrible to the conditioned soul, but to the liberated soul, there is no fear of mahamaya, because he is protected by yogamaya. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita when Krishna said the following: "I am not visible to everyone on account of being curtained by yogamaya." So when a conditioned soul surrenders unto Krishna, the yogamaya winds up the curtain and Krishna is visible to the devotee.
Regarding your questions: Your first question, "Are great sages put under yogamaya or maya? Also are all the eternally liberated souls under yogamaya?" Yogamaya means the mercy of the Supreme Lord which connects a devotee in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and mahamaya means the external potency of the Lord which puts a conditioned soul into illusion that he will be happy by material adjustment. So great sages who are impersonalists are also under the spell of mahamaya, because a conditioned soul in the material world wants to improve his material position as exalted as possible, and the concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is the greatest illusion for them. Because it is a fact that nobody can be equal or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, anyone desiring to become one with the Supreme means that he is still in the trap of maya. On the other hand, a humble devotee who may not be a great sage, but simply by his implicit acceptance of the Lotus Feet of the Lord as the goal of his life means that he is under the protection of yogamaya. I think this will clear the idea.
| Page Title: | Mahamaya and yogamaya |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 30 of Jul, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=15, CC=1, OB=2, Lec=7, Con=1, Let=3 |
| No. of Quotes: | 29 |