Text 45] Bhagavatam is the Answer 603

The material nature is one of the energies of the Lord, and she can work
under the direction of the Lord (adhyaksena). When the Lord throws His
transcendental glance over the material nature, then only can the material
nature act, as the father contacts the mother, and then the mother is able
to conceive a child. The material nature therefore produces the moving and
standing manifestations of the material world after being contacted by the
supreme father, and not independently. Therefore although it appears, to
the layman, that the mother gives birth to the child, the experienced man
knows that the father gives birth to the child. To consider material nature
as the cause of creation, maintenance, etc., is called the “logic of nipples
on the neck of the goat.” The Caitanya-caritamrta by Srila Krsnadasa
Kaviraja Gosvami describes this logic of ajagalastana as follows (as ex-
plained by His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja): “‘The material nature, as the material cause, is known as
pradhana, and as efficient cause is known as maya. But being inert matter,
it is not the remote cause of creation.” Kaviraja Gosvami states as follows:

ataeva krsna mul, jagat karan
prakrti karan jaichhe ajagalastan (C.C., Adi 5.61)
Because the Karanarnavagayi Visnu is a plenary expansion of Krsna, il is
He who electrifies the matter to be in motion. The example of electrifica-
tion is quite appropriate. A piece of iron is certainly not fire, hut when
the iron is made red-hot, certainly it has the quality of fire through its
burning capacity. Matter is compared with the piece of iron, and it is
electrified or made red-hot by the glance or manipulation of the supreme
consciousness of Visnu. By such electrification only does the energy of
matter become displayed by various actions and reactions. Therefore the
inert matter is neither efficient nor is it the material cause of the cosmic
manifestation. Sri Kapiladeva has said:
yatholmukad visphulingad dhimad vapi svasambhavat
apy atma-tvenabhimatad yathagnih prthag ulmukat
(Bhag. 3.28.40)

The original fire, its flame, its sparks, and its smoke are all one, as fire is
still fire yet is different from the flame, flame is different from sparks, and
sparks are different from the smoke. In every one of them, namely in the
flames, in the sparks and in the smoke, the integrity of fire is present, and
still all of them and each and every one of them are differently situated
with different positions. The cosmid manifestation is compared to the
