Atraiva Tattva Vijnanam

Here indeed is the truth that the wise must always know: in the Supreme Soul there is no difference between the energy and its possessor.

Yet we hear that the Supreme Soul possesses a superior energy, endowed with inconceivable potency, which reveals the possessor of that energy.

That energy, becoming sandhini (the existence potency), extends the entire realm of existence; being the very foundation of existence, it exists in the form of Vaikuntha.

The existence known by the name Krishna, the existence of his form and body, and the existence of his eternal companions headed by Radha -- all existence whatsoever is sandhini.

From the potency of sandhini arise the manifold relationships of all beings; this potency is the very support of everything, taking every form, the true substance underlying all existence.

The supreme potency that becomes samvit (the cognitive potency) takes the form of knowledge and realization; existing within the existence fashioned by sandhini, it unites all things with their proper relationships.

Without this awareness, nothing whatsoever could be perceived in existence, whether present or absent; therefore samvit alone is the illuminator of all states of being.

The great goddess in the form of samvit, who unites relationship and sentiment within the existences created by sandhini, ordains what is to be done and what is not to be done.

Samvit, in its undifferentiated aspect, reveals impersonal Brahman-knowledge; but that same samvit, when endowed with particular qualities, bestows devotion to the Personality of Godhead.

That same supreme potency, known by the name hladini (the pleasure potency), situated in states such as maha-bhava, bestows the highest bliss.

Endowed with a sentiment exalted above all others, bearing a form that is half of Krishna's own being, Radhika, in her very essence, is indeed Krishna's own bliss personified.

Radha is herself the personification of maha-bhava, ever delighting Krishna; her eight kinds of ecstatic transformations of love, nourished by hladini, enrich the mellow of devotion.

Souls who partake of these various sentiments are devoted to eternal bliss; within the existence of the soul, such sentiments are always established in a pure state.

Hladini, sandhini, and samvit are, in the Supreme, Krishna, one and undivided; yet in the pastimes of his personal expansions, that single potency eternally manifests as a threefold nature.

All of this exists in Krishna spontaneously, and though he is beyond material qualities, it is indeed wondrous -- born from the delight of his own spiritual potency, in the very nature of his spiritual glory.

A different manifestation, arising from the jiva-shakti, the marginal potency, is spoken of; because the living being is a distinct category of truth, he is called a separated part.

The living entities, atomic in size, exist as rays of the sun that is Krishna; therefore in them the qualities of Krishna exist naturally, in a subtle degree.

Just as a drop is to the ocean, or a grain of dust to the earth, so are the qualities of the Supreme Lord present, in minute measure, within the living being.

Hladini, sandhini, and samvit are understood to exist in Krishna in their fullest, most complete measure; in the jiva they are to be seen, by those of subtle intelligence, only in an atomic degree.

Even though the living entities possess independence, for those who desire their own true good these potencies remain ever present within them, following, by their very nature, the will of Krishna.

But those foolish souls devoted to sense enjoyment, relying only on their own limited power, wander about on the paths of fruitive action within this uncontrollable material world.

Even there, among the creatures wandering on the paths of karma, the Lord himself remains present, in his form as the Supersoul, by his own sweet will.

This is the pastime of the jiva and the Lord carried on now through maya: one, the jiva, enjoys the fruit of his actions, while the other, the Lord as Paramatma, is the bestower of that fruit.

That sandhini potency, present within the jiva-shakti, in the form of conditioned existence, itself creates the separate material worlds beginning with the heavenly planets.

There, action and the fruit of action -- whether misery or happiness -- exist, along with all things such as sin and piety, and the many bonds of hope and desire.

The samvit present within the jiva-shakti can reveal knowledge of the Lord, by which knowledge the soul comes to perceive its own true self within itself.

Detachment, too, arises in the living beings through this same samvit; yet at times the desire for merging into impersonal oneness certainly becomes very strong.

The hladini potency present in the jiva, which takes the form of devotion to the Lord, opposes maya; yet in its impersonal misapplication it can become devoted only to a formless conception.

Because this spiritual potency, in the jiva, is so greatly reduced, devotion to the Lord sometimes never attains the form of true loving affection, remaining by nature always dry.

Prayer to Hari then exists only mixed with a sense of gratitude, or a desire for the increase of material life, or joined only with a mood of renunciation.

Sometimes, from an abundance of sentiment, tears may even come to the eyes; yet even so, true spiritual ecstasy, delighting in Sri Krishna, does not arise.

The pastime of Krishna as the Supreme Soul present with his separated parts, the jivas, exists indeed only in relation to those living beings who are conditioned, bound by matter.

But for those who delight in spiritual pastimes, ever protected by the spiritual potency, there is no benefit at all to be found either in yogic self-realization or in impersonal Brahman-knowledge.

Maya, however, being the source of matter, transforms the qualities of spirit into their material reflections; she is the covering potency, a mere servant of the Lord.

Since maya is but a reflection of the spiritual potency, how could she ever be truly distinct from it? A reflection is never actually different from the substance it reflects.

Therefore, whatever appears distinctly in this universe fashioned by maya is but a reflection of the spiritual potency, like the moon reflected in water.

Everything reflected through maya is called by the wise "the material world"; it has the power to bind the jiva, yet for the Lord it exists always as mere play.

How could the pure nature of the original substance exist within its mere shadow? Therefore this universe fashioned by maya is seen to be something to be rejected, a place of bondage.

That maya, becoming a shadow of sandhini, extends the very conception of space; spread through the vast and formless expanse, it exists in this material world as inert matter.

In the mortal bodies and so forth of the living beings, all the causes exist, measurable and made of material elements, for the sake of their continued material existence.

The great illusory potency, in the form of a shadow of samvit, fashions the subtle body and produces, in the conditioned soul, the consciousness that takes the form of false ego.

That potency becomes intelligence within the mind, awareness within the senses, and constant memory within the thinking faculty, giving rise to knowledge of sense objects.

Such knowledge of sense objects is merely illusory and is not a quality of the soul itself; being joined with the modes of material nature, it is called by people "mundane."

That reflection of hladini within maya indeed becomes attachment to sense objects; taking the form of the pleasure of fruitive work, it gives rise to the mood of enjoyment.

Constant worship of the Lord of sacrifice becomes the cause of that material pleasure; there, fruitive workers observe religious duty only in relation to the threefold aim of dharma, artha, and kama.