Yogamaya (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"yogamaya" |"yogamaya's" |"yogamayah" |"yogamayam" |"yogamayaya"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Juggannath Babu -- Calcutta 14 March, 1949:

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.

Letter to Sir -- Calcutta May 1949:

The Mother Nature is, as She should naturally be, the most faithful mistress of Godhead and She becomes angry for the behavior of the Asura and thus assume the role of Daivamaya (generally known as the Mohakali, Durga, Bhadrakali etc.) and take at once Her grim trident and inflicts the weapon in the heart of the asura who is also Her son. The asura thus becomes subject to threefold miseries and this is done according to the plan of Godhead as the mother has to chastise the disobedient son in order to make him alright. This process of chastisement is necessary for the benefit of both the asura and the daiva sons in order to stop disorder in the great plan of Godhead. As sons as the asura, however, surrenders unto Godhead as the obedient son and servitor of the plan of Godhead the asura is turned into a devata. The angry mode of Mother Nature at once subsides and she appears to such godly sons as the most affectionate Mother in the role of Yogamaya (commonly known as Laksmi, Sita and Radharani etc)

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- San Francisco 3 April, 1968:

One thing you may inform all devotees that Maya cannot touch a pure devotee: When you find a devotee is supposed in difficulty it is not the work of Maya but it is the work of the Lord by His Personal internal energy. The Pandava's tribulation in so many ways, Lord Ramacandra's departure to the forest, His wife the Goddess of Fortune's being kidnapped by Ravana, Lord Krishna's death being caused by the arrow of a hunter, Thakura Haridasa's being caned in 22 market or Lord Jesus Christ being crucified are all acts of the Lord personally. We cannot always understand the intricacies of such incidences. Sometimes they are enacted to bewilder persons who demons. You should therefore discuss in the Istagosthi from current reading matters from B.G. or S.B. We should only try to understand everything from the standard of devotional service. It is stated clearly in the B.G. that any one who is cent per cent engaged in the service of the Lord is transcendentally situated and the influence of Maya has no more any action on such body. The Lord and His pure devotees are always beyond the range of Maya's action. Even though they appear like action of Maya, we should understand their action of Yogamaya or the internal potency of the Lord.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Montreal 3 July, 1968:

Your question, "what is the relationship of sweethearts in Vaikuntha to each other and to Lord Narayana? Is conjugal love, parental affection, and unalloyed friendship there in the Vaikunthas?" No. In Vaikuntha there are two kinds of transcendental mellows, dasya and the lower half of sakya rasa. The lower half of sakhya means friendship in adoration. And the higher half of sakhya rasa is friendship on equal level. So in Vrindaban the reciprocation of transcendental humor is higher than in Vaikuntha. It is there more free and spontaneous without any restriction arranged by yogamaya principle.

Letter to Madhusudana -- Montreal 29 July, 1968:

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.

Letter to Aniruddha -- Los Angeles 14 November, 1968:

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.