SB 11.22.26 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीउद्धव उवाच प्रकृति: पुरुषश्चोभौ यद्यप्यात्मविलक्षणौ । अन्योन्यापाश्रयात् कृष्ण द‍ृश्यते न भिदा तयो: । प्रकृतौ लक्ष्यते ह्यात्मा प्रकृतिश्च तथात्मनि ॥ २६ ॥

Verse text

śrī-uddhava uvāca prakṛtiḥ puruṣaś cobhau yady apy ātma-vilakṣaṇau anyonyāpāśrayāt kṛṣṇa dṛśyate na bhidā tayoḥ prakṛtau lakṣyate hy ātmā prakṛtiś ca tathātmani

Synonyms

śrī — uddhavaḥ uvāca — Śrī Uddhava said ; prakṛtiḥ — nature ; puruṣaḥ — the enjoyer, or living entity ; ca — and ; ubhau — both ; yadi api — although ; ātma — constitutionally ; vilakṣaṇau — distinct ; anyonya — mutual ; apāśrayāt — because of shelter ; kṛṣṇa — O Lord Kṛṣṇa ; dṛśyate na — it does not appear ; bhidā — any difference ; tayoḥ — between them ; prakṛtau — within nature ; lakṣyate — is apparently seen ; hi — indeed ; ātmā — the soul ; prakṛtiḥ — nature ; ca — and ; tathā — also ; ātmani — in the soul .

Translation

Śrī Uddhava inquired: Although nature and the living entity are constitutionally distinct, O Lord Kṛṣṇa, there appears to be no difference between them, because they are found residing within one another. Thus the soul appears to be within nature and nature within the soul.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Uddhava said: O Kṛṣṇa! Although prakṛti and the Lord are intrinsically distinct, there appears to be no difference between them because they are mutually dependent. The Lord appears to be within the body and the body appears to be within the Lord. Another doubt arises from this discussion. Prakṛti or māyā and the Lord (puruṣaḥ) are intrinsically different, since prakṛti is unconscious and the Lord is conscious. Though this is shown in the scriptures, because the two depend on each other in the body, they do not appear different. That mutual dependence is described. The Lord is seen in the body (prakṛtau), the product, and the product, the body is seen in the Lord. Because both are based on each other, they are mutually dependent.

Purport

Śrī Uddhava here expresses the doubt that arises in the heart of an ordinary conditioned soul. Although the Vedic scriptures declare that the material body is a temporary fabrication of the material modes of nature, the conscious living entity within the body is actually an eternal spirit soul. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa has declared the material elements constituting the body to be His separated, inferior energy, whereas the living entity is the superior, conscious energy of the Lord. Still, in conditioned life the material body and conditioned soul appear inseparable and thus nondifferent. Because the living entity enters the womb of a mother and gradually comes out in a developed body, the soul appears to have entered deeply within material nature. Similarly, by the soul’s identification with the material body, the body appears to enter deeply within the consciousness of the soul. What is more, the body cannot exist without the presence of the soul. By this apparent mutual dependence, the difference between the body and soul is obscured. Śrī Uddhava therefore questions the Lord in order to clarify this issue.