Text 25] The Advent of Lord Krṣṇa: Introduction
51
PURPORT
Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate  (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8). In the  Vedas  it is said that the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called by different names, such as  yogamāyā  and  mahāmāyā . Ultimately, however, the Lord's potency is one, exactly as electric potency is one although it can act both to cool and to heat. The Lord's potency acts in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the spiritual world the Lord's potency works as  yogamāyā , and in the material world the same potency works as  mahāmāyā , exactly as electricity works in both a heater and a cooler. In the material world, this potency, working as  mahāmāyā , acts upon the conditioned souls to deprive them more and more of devotional service. It is said,  yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam . In the material world the conditioned soul thinks of himself as a product of  tri-guṇa , the three modes of material nature. This is the bodily conception of life. Because of associating with the three  guṇas  of the material potency, everyone identifies himself with his body. Someone is thinking he is a  brāhmaṇa , someone a  kṣatriya , and someone a  vaiśya  or  śūdra . Actually, however, one is neither a  brāhmaṇa , a  kṣatriya , a  vaiśya  nor a  śūdra ; one is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord ( mamaivāṁśaḥ ), but because of being covered by the material energy,  mahāmāyā , one identifies himself in these different ways. When the conditioned soul becomes liberated, however, he thinks himself an eternal servant of Krṣṇa.  Jīvera  ' svarūpa' haya—krṣṇera  ' nitya-dāsa .' When he comes to that position, the same potency, acting as  yogamāyā , increasingly helps him become purified and devote his energy to the service of the Lord.
In either case, whether the soul is conditioned or liberated, the Lord is supreme. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (9.10),  mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram : it is by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that the material energy,  mahāmāyā , works upon the conditioned soul.
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate