180
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 4]
world, must first of all know how the external energy of the Lord is working under the direction of the Supreme Personality, and afterwards one may try to enter into the activities of His internal energy. The mundaners are mostly worshipers of Durgā Devī, the external energy of Krṣṇa, but they do not know that Durgā Devī is but the shadow energy of the Lord. Behind her astonishing display of material workings, the direction of the Lord is there, as it is confirmed in the  Gūtā  (Bg. 9.10). The  Brahma-saṁhitā  affirms that Durgā-śakti is working by the direction of Govinda, and without His sanction the powerful Durgā-śakti cannot move even a blade of grass. Therefore the neophyte devotee, instead of jumping at once on the platform of transcendental pastimes presented by the internal energy of the Lord, may know how great the Supreme Lord is by inquiring about the process of His creative energy. In the  Caitanya-caritāmṛta  also, descriptions of the creative energy and the Lord's hand in it are explained, and the author of  Caitanya-caritāmṛta  has warned the neophyte devotees to be seriously on guard against the pitfall of neglecting the knowledge about Krṣṇa as to how great He is. Only when one knows Lord Krṣṇa's greatness can one firmly put one's unflinching faith in Him; otherwise, like the common man, Lord Krṣṇa will be mistaken as one of the many demigods, or a historical personality, or a myth only, even by the great leaders of men. The transcendental pastimes of the Lord in Vṛndāvana, or even at Dvārakā, are relishable by persons who have already qualified themselves in advanced spiritual techniques, and the common man may be able to attain to such a plane by the gradual process of service and inquiries, as we shall see in the behavior of Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
TEXT 7
यथा गोपायति विभ्रूयथा संयच्छते पुनः । 
  यां यां शक्तिमुपाश्रित्य पुरुशक्तिः परः पुमान् । 
  आत्मानं क्रीडयन् क्रीडन् करोति विकरोति च ॥ ७ ॥
yathā gopāyati vibhur 
  yathā saṁyacchate punaḥ 
  yāṁ yāṁ śaktim upāśritya 
  puru-śaktiḥ paraḥ pumān