Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 22: Enumeration of the Elements of Material Creation

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.22.4

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

yuktaḿ ca santi sarvatra

bhāṣante brāhmaṇā yathā

māyāḿ madīyām udgṛhya

vadatāḿ kiḿ nu durghaṭam

SYNONYMS

śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; yuktam — reasonably; ca — even; santi — they are present; sarvatra — everywhere; bhāṣante — they speak; brāhmaṇāḥ — brāhmaṇas; yathā — how; māyām — the mystic energy; madīyam — My; udgṛhya — resorting to; vadatām — of those who speak; kim — what; nu — after all; durghaṭam — will be impossible.

TRANSLATION

Lord Kṛṣṇa replied: Because all material elements are present everywhere, it is reasonable that different learned brāhmaṇas have analyzed them in different ways. All such philosophers spoke under the shelter of My mystic potency, and thus they could say anything without contradicting the truth.

PURPORT

The words santi sarvatra in this verse indicate that all material elements are found within each other in gross and subtle forms. In this way there are innumerable w-ays to categorically describe them. The material world is ultimately illusory, undergoing constant transformation. It may be measured in different ways, just as the mirage of an oasis may be described in different ways, but the Lord's own analysis of twenty-eight elements is perfect and should be accepted. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states that the word māyā in this verse does not refer to mahā-māyā, or the potency of ignorance, but to the Lord's inconceivable mystic power, which shelters the learned followers of Vedic knowledge. Each of the philosophers mentioned here reveals a particular aspect of truth, and their theories are not contradictory, since they are simply describing the same phenomena with different categorical systems. Such philosophical disagreement is endless within the material world; thus everyone should unite on the platform of the Lord's own opinion, as stated in this verse. Similarly, in Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa requests all conditioned souls to give up their various forms of worship and surrender unto Him in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, becoming His devotees. Thus the whole universe can be united in love of Godhead by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. By the Lord's revealing Himself to a sincere devotee, the controversy of analytic philosophy is ended.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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