Text 23] Punishment and Reward of Kali 903

certainly the personality of religion, otherwise no one could understand
the finer intricacies of the codes of religion.

TEXT 23

wea sa ad Afra |
Jaen TaraMY warerfata Fee RII

athava deva-mayaya
nunam gatir agocara

cetaso vacasas capi
bhutanam iti nigcayah

athava—alternatively; deva—the Lord; mayayah—energies; nunam—very
little; gatih-movement; agocara—inconceivable; cetasah—either by the
mind; vacasah—by words; ca—or; api—also; bhiitanam— of all living beings;
iti—thus; niscayah—concluded.

TRANSLATION

Thus it is concluded that the Lord’s energies are inconceivable. No
one can estimate them by mental speculation or by word jugglery.

PURPORT

A question may be raised as to why a devotee should refrain from
identifying an actor, although he knows definitely that the Lord is the
ultimate doer of everything. Knowing the ultimate doer, one should not
pose himself as ignorant of the actual performer. To answer this doubt,
the reply is that the Lord is also not directly responsible because everything
is done by His deputed maya-sakti, or material energy. The material
energy is always provoking doubts about the supreme authority of the
Lord. The personality of religion knew perfectly well that nothing can
take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, and still he was put
into doubts by the deluding energy, and thus he refrained from men-
tioning the supreme cause. This doubtfulness was due to the contamina-
tion of both Kali and the material energy. The whole atmosphere of the
age of Kali is magnified by the deluding energy, and the proportion of
measurement is inexplicable.
