Section 27 
The Lord is Transcendental to Mäyä

           Therefore Varuëa prayed to the Lord (10.28.6):

          My obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Bhagavän), the Absolute Truth (Brahman), the Supreme Soul (Paramätmä), within whom there is no trace of the illusory energy, which orchestrates the creation of this world.

           Lord Kåñëa, in whom the three aspects of Brahman, Paramätmä, and Bhagavän are perceived and in whose essential nature the illusory energy is not found, His perception in these three aspects is not caused by Mäyä. The reason is that Mäyä has the natural ability to control only the material affairs through the acts of creating, maintaining, and annihilating the universe.

          Therefore while inquiring about the structure of the universe King Pariksit says (S.B.5.16.3):

          The mind which can be fixed on the gross material form of the Lord can also meditate upon the most subtle, self-effulgent, transcendent Lord, Para Brahman called Lord Vasudeva.

 

PURPORT

          Previously Srila Jiva Gosvami established that the one Absolute Truth manifests in three features--Brahman, Paramätma, and Bhagavän.  He has also shown in previous Texts that the Lord and His attributes are free from the modes of nature.  This raises a doubt.  Are the other two features, Brahman and Paramätmä, also free from the influence of Mäyä?  In answer Çréla Jéva Gosvämé quotes a verse that Varuëa, the god of water, spoke to Kåñëa when the Lord went to rescue His father, who had been arrested for taking bath in the Yamunä at a forbidden hour.

          In this verse Varuëa explicitly states that Brahman, Paramätmä, and Bhagavän are all free from the influence of Mäyä. Lord's qualities are not product of Mäyä. She is neither heard nor seen there na yatra çrüyate.  Mäyä has influence only in the material world. Therefore it is not possible to realize the Lord and His attributes with the help of Mäyä.

          The second verse is by Pariksit Maharaja. He wanted to understand the structure of the universe. Sometimes neophytes on the path of transcendence have difficulty fixing their mind on the transcendental form of the Lord.  They are advised to meditate on the vérät form of the Lord and imagine the whole universe as His body.  This vérät form is material and not the real form of the Lord.  It is a facility to aid their meditation.  Later, when the candidate is able to control his mind, he is taught to fix it on the self-effulgent Lord, who has a personal form that is transcendental to the modes of nature.

          From his question it is clear that the Lord's personal form is not imbued with the modes of nature. The ultimate purpose of meditating on the universal form is to advance to the level of Bhagavän realization.  This is the purpose of the description given in the Fifth Canto of Bhägavatam about the structure of the universe. Parikñita Mahäräja calls Lord's form aguëa or free from material modes. Because Virät is also called the form of the Lord one should not confuse it to be part of His essential nature. That is the significance of referring to Parikñita's question.

          In the next Text Çréla Jéva Gosvämé gives more proof of Lord being free from the influence of Mäyä.