Fourteen Worlds
FOURTEEN WORLDSVedic Cosmology

SB 11.22.30

Devanāgarī

ममाङ्ग माया गुणमय्यनेकधा विकल्पबुद्धीश्च गुणैर्विधत्ते । वैकारिकस्‍त्रिविधोऽध्यात्ममेक- मथाधिदैवमधिभूतमन्यत् ॥ ३० ॥

Text

mamāṅga māyā guṇa-mayy anekadhā vikalpa-buddhīś ca guṇair vidhatte vaikārikas tri-vidho ’dhyātmam ekam athādhidaivam adhibhūtam anyat

Synonyms

mama—My;aṅga—My dear Uddhava;māyā—material energy;guṇa-mayī—consisting of the three modes;anekadhā—manifold;vikalpa—different manifestations;buddhīḥ—and perceptions of these differences;ca—and;guṇaiḥ—by the modes;vidhatte—establishes;vaikārikaḥ—the full-blown manifestation of transformations;tri-vidhaḥ—having three aspects;adhyātmam—calledadhyātma;ekam—one;atha—and;adhidaivam—adhidaiva;adhibhūtam—adhibhūta;anyat—another.

Translation

My dear Uddhava, My material energy, comprising three modes and acting through them, manifests the varieties of creation along with varieties of consciousness for perceiving them. The manifest result of material transformation is understood in three aspects: adhyātmic, adhidaivic and adhibhautic.

Purport

The word vikalpa-buddhīḥ indicates that consciousness within various material bodies reveals different aspects of the Lord’s creation. Birds such as seagulls glide on the ocean breezes, experiencing the Lord’s creation of wind and altitude. The fish experience life within the water, and other creatures intimately experience life within trees or within the earth. Human society affords its own varieties of awareness, and similarly in heaven and hell different experiences are available. All types of material consciousness are transformations of the three modes of material nature, the expansions of the Lord’s illusory energy.
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