Ādi-līlā, Chapter 5
395
PURPORT
In the Rāmānuja and Madhva sects of Vaiṣṇavism there are extensive descriptions of the  śrī ,  bhū  and  nīlā  energies. In Bengal the  nīlā  energy is sometimes called the  līlā  energy. These three energies are employed in the service of four-handed Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha. Relating how three of the Ālvāras, namely Bhūta-yogī, Sara-yogī and Bhrānta-yogī, saw Nārāyaṇa in person when they took shelter at the house of a  brāhmaṇa  in the village of Gehalī, the  Prapannāmṛta  of the Śrī-sampradāya describes Nārāyaṇa as follows:
tārkṣyādhirūḍhaṁ taḍid-ambudābhaṁ lakṣmī-dharaṁ vakṣasi paṅkajākṣam hasta-dvaye śobhita-śaṅkha-cakraṁ viṣṇuṁ dadṛśur bhagavantam ādyam
ājānu-bāhuṁ kamanīya-gātraṁ pārśva-dvaye śobhita-bhūmi-nīlam pītāmbaraṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣitāṅgaṁ catur-bhujaṁ candana-ruṣitāṅgam
“They saw the lotus-eyed Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, mounted on Garuḍa and holding Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, to His chest. He resembled a bluish raincloud with flashing lightning, and in two of His four hands He held a conchshell and disc. His arms stretched down to His knees, and all His beautiful limbs were smeared with sandalwood and decorated with glittering ornaments. He wore yellow clothes, and by either side stood His energies Bhūmi and Nīlā.”
There is the following reference to the  śrī ,  bhū  and  nīlā  energies in the  Sītopaniṣad :  mahā-lakṣmīr deveśasya bhinnābhinna-rūpā cetanācetanātmikā. sā devī tri-vidhā bhavati—śakty-ātmanā icchā-śaktiḥ kriyā-śaktiḥ sākṣāc-chaktir iti. icchā-śaktis tri-vidhā bhavati—śrī-bhūmi-nīlātmikā.  “Mahā-Lakṣmī, the supreme energy of the Lord, is experienced in different ways. It is divided into material and spiritual potencies, and in both features it acts as the willing energy, creative energy and the internal energy. The willing energy is again divided into three, namely  śrī ,  bhū  and  nīlā .”
Quoting from the revealed scriptures in his commentary on  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.6), Madhvācārya has stated that mother material nature, which is conceived of as the illusory energy, Durgā, has three divisions, namely  śrī ,  bhū  and  nīlā . She is the illusory energy for those who are weak in spiritual strength because such energies are created energies of Lord Viṣṇu. Although each energy has no direct relationship with the unlimited, they are subordinate to the Lord because the Lord is the master of all energies.
In his  Bhagavat-sandarbha  (verse 80) Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu states: “The  Padma Purāṇa  refers to the eternally auspicious abode of Godhead, which is full in all opulences, including the energies  śrī ,  bhū  and  nīlā . The  Mahā-saṁhitā , which discusses the transcendental name and form of Godhead, also mentions Durgā as