Devanagari
द्रव्यं वय: कर्म गुणान्विशेषं
यद्योगमायाविहितान्वदन्ति ।
यद् दुर्विभाव्यं प्रबुधापबाधं
प्रसीदतां न: स महाविभूति: ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
dravyaṁ vayaḥ karma guṇān viśeṣaṁ
yad-yoga-māyā-vihitān vadanti
yad durvibhāvyaṁ prabudhāpabādhaṁ
prasīdatāṁ naḥ sa mahā-vibhūtiḥ
Synonyms
dravyam
—
the five elements of the material world
;
vayaḥ
—
time
;
karma
—
fruitive activities
;
guṇān
—
the three modes of material nature
;
viśeṣam
—
the varieties caused by combinations of the twenty-three elements
;
yat
—
that which
;
yoga
—
māyā — by the Lord’s creative potency
;
vihitān
—
all done
;
vadanti
—
all learned men say
;
yat durvibhāvyam
—
which is actually extremely difficult to understand
;
prabudha
—
apabādham — rejected by the learned, by those who are fully aware
;
prasīdatām
—
may be pleased
;
naḥ
—
upon us
;
saḥ
—
He
;
mahā
—
vibhūtiḥ — the controller of everything .
Translation
All learned men say that the five elements, eternal time, fruitive activity, the three modes of material nature, and the varieties produced by these modes are all creations of yoga-māyā. This material world is therefore extremely difficult to understand, but those who are highly learned have rejected it. May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of everything, be pleased with us.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
May the Lord who possesses great vibhūtis, whose yoga-māyā, they say, creates this inconceivable universe made of twenty-three elements, time, karma and the three guṇas, whose reality is negated by the very intelligent, be pleased with us!
The wise say that the twenty-three material elements (dravyam), time (vayaḥ), karma, and the three guṇas are created by the Lord’s yoga-māyā, and that the particular creation from these elements is inconceivable. This creation is rejected as real by the very intelligent. Another version has prabudhāvabodham. Though the material world is difficult to understand, it is understood by the very intelligent. We understand that this material universe, is the vibhūti of the twenty-three elements, time, and karma, which are vibhūtis of māyā-śakti with its guṇas, which is a vibhūti of the Lord’s svarūpa-śakti, yoga-māyā. This is the meaning implied.
Purport
The word
durvibhāvyam
is very important in this verse. No one can understand how everything is happening in this material world by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His material energies. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.10)
,
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram:
everything is actually happening under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This much we can learn, but how it is happening is extremely difficult to understand. We cannot even understand how the affairs within our body are systematically taking place. The body is a small universe, and since we cannot understand how things are happening in this small universe, how can we understand the affairs of the bigger universe? Actually this universe is very difficult to understand, yet learned sages have advised, as Kṛṣṇa has also advised, that this material world is
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam;
in other words, it is a place of misery and temporality. One must give up this world and go back home, back to the Personality of Godhead. Materialists may argue, “If this material world and its affairs are impossible to understand, how can we reject it?” The answer is provided by the word
prabudhāpabādham.
We have to reject this material world because it is rejected by those who are learned in Vedic wisdom. Even though we cannot understand what this material world is, we should be ready to reject it in accordance with the advice of learned persons, especially the advice of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says:
mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
“After attaining Me, the great souls, who are
yogīs
in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.” (
Bg. 8.15
) One has to return home, back to Godhead, for this is the highest perfection of life. To go back to Godhead means to reject this material world. Although we cannot understand the functions of this material world and whether it is good for us or bad for us, in accordance with the advice of the supreme authority we must reject it and go back home, back to Godhead.