Verse 2.18.170

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.18.170:

জগত্-স্বরূপা তুমি, তুমি সর্ব-শক্তি তুমি শ্রদ্ধা, দযা, লজ্জা, তুমি বিষ্ণু-ভক্তি ॥ ১৭০ ॥

जगत्-स्वरूपा तुमि, तुमि सर्व-शक्ति तुमि श्रद्धा, दया, लज्जा, तुमि विष्णु-भक्ति ॥ १७० ॥

jagat-svarūpā tumi, tumi sarva-śakti tumi śraddhā, dayā, lajjā, tumi viṣṇu-bhakti || 170 ||

jagat-svarupa tumi, tumi sarva-sakti tumi sraddha, daya, lajja, tumi visnu-bhakti (170)

English translation:

(170) “You are the form of the universe, and You possess all energies. You are faith, compassion, and shame, and You are the personification of devotional service to Viṣṇu.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

In Śrī Bhagavata-sandarbha (117) it is stated: “`The Lord was also served by His principal internal potencies—Śrī, Puṣṭi, Gīr, Kānti, Kīrti, Tuṣṭi, Ilā, and Ūrjā His material potencies, Vidyā, Avidyā, and Māyā, and His internal pleasure potency, Śakti.’ (Bhāg. 10.39.55). The word śakti refers to the internal potency, or energy, in the form of Lakṣmī. When the word śakti is mentioned, it refers to the first internal energy, or mahā- śakti, and māyā is the external energy. But the above energies headed by Śrī have two propensities, because all energies are of two types—material and spiritual. It is to be understood that the energies headed by Śrī act both in the form of consorts and in the form of māyā. Among them, Śrī of the former category is the opulence of the Supreme Lord, but she is not the form of Mahā-Lakṣmī because Śrī is the mūla-śakti, or original energy. This will be explained later on. The latter category is the opulence of the material world. Regarding her, the Supreme Lord has said (in Bhāg. 3.16.7): na śrīr viraktam api māṃ vijahāti—`The goddess of fortune [Śrī] does not leave Me, even though I have no attachment for

her.’ This is also stated by Śrī Nārada at the end of the Fourth Canto (4.31.22) [śriyam anucaratīṃ tad-arthinaś ca, dvipada-patīn vibudhāṃś ca yat sva-pūrṇaḥna bhajati nija-bhṛtya-varga-tantraḥkatham amum udvisṛjet pumān kṛta-jñaḥ, “Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient, He becomes dependent on His devotees. He does not care for the goddess of fortune [Śrī], nor for the kings and demigods who are after the favors of the goddess of fortune. Where is that person who is actually grateful and will not worship the Personality of Godhead?”]. Among the above potencies, Ilā, or Bhū-śakti, has the same features as Līlā-śakti. Of the two, the former, or Ilā, is a manifestation of Bhū-śakti and is the cause of knowledge regarding the truth. She is a particular aspect of the saṃvit potency. The latter, or Līlā- śakti, is the gateway of knowledge. She is the aspect of ecstatic love based on motherly affection that helps one forget the Lord’s opulences.

That is why the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad has described this energy as bewildering to the cowherd residents of Vraja. The other [material] aspect of Līlā-śakti is the covering potency that causes the conditioned souls to forget their own identities. It is to be understood by the use of the word ca in the verse beginning śriyā puṣṭyāthat energies of Bhū-śakti like sandhinī, saṃvit, hlādinī, bhakti, mūrti, vimalā, jayā, yogā, prahvī, īśānā, and anugrahāare included. These are also known as sandhinī, satyā, jayā, yogā, yogamāyā, saṃvit, jñānājñāna, and śuddha-sattva. Prahvī is the cause of variegated bliss and ability. Īśānā is the cause of the energy of full control. This is the difference. In the same way, the energy Uttarā (Līlā) has many different propensities. The propensities of Māyā are not described herein because they serve the external energy. But in the original text those propensities have been generally counted as limbs of service. The external position of Māyā is because of her remaining in the distance under the shelter of the plenary portion of the Supreme Lord.

Otherwise, in the original verse (Bhāg. 10.39.55) the word śakti has been used as a noun. The energy śrīis the original form, and energies like puṣṭi are her parts and parcels. Vidyā means knowledge, not ignorance. This

knowledge is described in Bhagavad-gītā (9.2) as follows:

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṃ pavitram idam uttamam pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ su-sukhaṃ kartum avyayam

`This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.’ The word māyā in the original text refers to the external energy. Her aspects like Śrī are separate from her. The others are the same. Although all these energies are counted among the aspects of the internal or spiritual energy of the Lord, it should be concluded that since the Absolute Truth is sac-cid-ānanda, the energy is one yet divided into three.”