Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.61

māyā hy eṣā mayā sṛṣṭā

yat pumāḿsaḿ striyaḿ satīm

manyase nobhayaḿ yad vai

haḿsau paśyāvayor gatim

SYNONYMS

māyā — illusory energy; hi — certainly; eṣā — this; mayā — by Me; sṛṣṭā — created; yat — from which; pumāḿsam — a male; striyam — a female; satīm — chaste; manyase — you think; na — not; ubhayam — both; yat — because; vai — certainly; haḿsau — freed from material contamination; paśya — just see; āvayoḥ — our; gatim — factual position.

TRANSLATION

Sometimes you think yourself a man, sometimes a chaste woman and sometimes a neutral eunuch. This is all because of the body, which is created by the illusory energy. This illusory energy is My potency, and actually both of us — you and I — are pure spiritual identities. Now just try to understand this. I am trying to explain our factual position.

PURPORT

The factual position of both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity is qualitatively one. The Supreme Lord is the Supreme Spirit, the Supersoul, and the living entity is the individual spiritual soul. Even though both of them are original spiritual identities, the living entity forgets his identity when he comes in contact with material nature and becomes conditioned. At such a time he identifies himself as a product of the material nature. Because of the material body, he forgets that he is the eternal (sanātana) part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in this way: mamaivāḿśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ [Bg. 15.7]. The word sanātana is found in several places in Bhagavad-gītā. Both the Lord and the living entity are sanātana (eternal), and there is also a place known as sanātana, beyond this material nature. The real residence of both the living entity and God is the domain of sanātana, not this material world. The material world is the temporary, external energy of the Lord, and the living entity is placed in this material world because he wanted to imitate the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this material world he tries to enjoy his senses to his best capacity. All the activities of the conditioned soul within this material world are perpetually taking place in different types of bodies, but when the living entity acquires developed consciousness, he should try to rectify his situation and again become a member of the spiritual world. The process by which one can return home, back to Godhead, is bhakti-yoga, sometimes called sanātana-dharma. Instead of accepting a temporary occupational duty based on the material body, one should take to the process of sanātana-dharma, or bhakti-yoga, so that he can put an end to this perpetual bondage in material bodies and return home, back to Godhead. As long as human society works on the basis of false material identification, all the so-called advancements of science and philosophy are simply useless. They only serve to mislead human society. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ. In the material world, the blind simply lead the blind.

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