110 Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta

“Although | am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and al-
though | am the Lord of all sentient beings, | still appear in every millennium in My
original transcendental form.” (Bg. 4.6) Atma-mayd refers to the spiritual potency.
When Krsna comes to this or any other universe, He does so with His spiritual
potency. We take birth by the force of the material potency, but as stated here
with reference to the Visnu Purana, the ksetrajna, or living entity, belongs to the
spiritual potency; thus when we free ourselves from the clutches of the material
potency we can also enter the spiritual world.

The material potency is the energy of darkness, or complete ignorance of spiritual
activities. In the material potency, the living entity engages himself in fruitive
activities, thinking that he can be happy through expansion in terms of material
energy. This fact is prominently manifest in this age of Kali because human society,
not understanding the spiritual nature, is busily expanding in material activities. The
men of the present day are almost unaware of their spiritual identity. They think
that they are products of the elements of the material world and that everything
will end with the annihilation of the body. Therefore they conclude that as long as
one has a material body consisting of material senses, one should enjoy the senses
as much as possible. Since they are atheists, they do not care whether there is a next
life. Such activities are described in this verse as avidya-karma-samjhanya.

The material energy is separated from the spiritual energy of the Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead. Thus although it is originally created by the Supreme Lord, He is
not actually present within it. The Lord also confirms in Bhagavad-gita, mat-sthani
sarva-bhutani: ‘‘Everything is resting on Me.” (Bg. 9.4) This indicates that every-
thing is resting on His own energy. For example, the planets are resting within outer
space, which is the separated energy of Krsna. The Lord explains in Bhagavad-gita:

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahahkara itiyarn me
bhinna prakrtir astadha
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these
eight comprise My separated energies.” (Bg. 7.4) The separated energy acts as if it
were independent, but here it is said that although such energies are certainly
factual, they are not independent but merely separated.

The separated energy can be understood from a practical example. | compose
books by speaking into a dictaphone, and when the dictaphone is replayed, it
appears that | am speaking personally, but actually | am not. | spoke personally,
but then the dictaphone tape, which is separate from me, acts exactly like me.
Similarly, the material energy originally emanates from the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, but it acts separately, although the energy is supplied by the Lord.
This is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram:
“This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is pro-
ducing all moving and unmoving beings.” (Bg. 9.10) Under the guidance or super-
intendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the material energy works as if
independent, although it is not actually independent.
