Devanagari
साध्वेतद् व्याहृतं विद्वन्नात्ममायायनं हरे: ।
आभात्यपार्थं निर्मूलं विश्वमूलं न यद्बहि: ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
sādhv etad vyāhṛtaṁ vidvan
nātma-māyāyanaṁ hareḥ
ābhāty apārthaṁ nirmūlaṁ
viśva-mūlaṁ na yad bahiḥ
Synonyms
sādhu
—
as good as it should be
;
etat
—
all these explanations
;
vyāhṛtam
—
thus spoken
;
vidvan
—
O learned one
;
na
—
not
;
ātma
—
the self
;
māyā
—
energy
;
ayanam
—
movement
;
hareḥ
—
of the Personality of Godhead
;
ābhāti
—
appears
;
apārtham
—
without meaning
;
nirmūlam
—
without basis
;
viśva
—
mūlam — the origin is the Supreme
;
na
—
not
;
yat
—
which
;
bahiḥ
—
outside .
Translation
O learned sage, your explanations are very good, as they should be. Disturbances to the conditioned soul have no other basis than the movement of the external energy of the Lord.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O learned Maitreya! You have accurately explained how the external energy, whose actions which are without purpose and without cause, is under the shelter of the Supreme Lord, and you have explained how the jīva’s bondage, which is without purpose and without cause, is under the shelter of the Lord’s māyā. Except for that māyā, there is no cause for the universe.
“What did you think of my explanation?” This verse answers. O brāhmaṇa! You explained it accurately (sādhu). What? You explained that the external energy (ātmā-māyā) is under the shelter of the Supreme Lord. Though the Lord is without guṇas, he possesses these guṇas through possessing māyā. By these guṇas the doership for material creation manifests (ābhāti). Because the Lord is self-satisfied, this act is said to be without goal (apārtham). It has no cause (nirmūlam) because there is no other instigator. This is inconceivable. You have explained this concerning the Lord.
The bondage of the jīva by ignorance, and the resulting misfortune of losing knowledge (ātma-māyāyanam), is under the shelter of māyā. This also is without goal and without cause. Thus you have explained the facts concerning the jīva. This is the esoteric meaning of Vidura’s words. There is no cause of the universe other than māyā (yad bahiḥ). This means that the existence of the Lord does not depend upon being the creator of the universe and having guṇas and material action.
Purport
A living entity’s unlawful desire to become one with the Lord in every respect is the root cause of the entire material manifestation, for otherwise the Lord has no need to create such a manifestation, even for His pastimes. The conditioned soul, under the spell of the external energy of the Lord, falsely suffers many unfortunate incidents in material life. The Lord is the predominator of the external energy,
māyā,
whereas the living entity is predominated by the same
māyā
under the material condition. The false attempt of the living entity to occupy the predominating post of the Lord is the cause of his material bondage, and the conditioned soul’s attempt to become one with the Lord is the last snare of
māyā.