The Supreme Lord functions in this world through the medium of His energies. There are unlimited energies of the Lord which have been categorized into three primary ones – internal energy, external energy and the marginal energy.
Internal energy is completely under the control of the Lord. It assists the Lord in performing various pastimes in the spiritual world. When the Lord descends in the material world also, he does so through the medium of internal energy.
The pure devotees of the Lord who are situated in the internal energy never budge a single moment from the service of the Lord. SB 11.2.53 describes,
tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave ‘py akuṇṭha-
smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāl
lava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ
“The lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are sought even by the greatest of demigods, such as Brahmā and Śiva, who have all accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their life and soul. A pure devotee of the Lord can never forget those lotus feet in any circumstance. He will not give up his shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord for a single moment—indeed, not for half a moment—even in exchange for the benediction of ruling and enjoying the opulence of the entire universe. Such a devotee of the Lord is to be considered the best of the Vaiṣṇavas.”
External energy comprises of all the interactions of matter in this world. The elements, the creation and all things associated with it belong to the external energy of the Lord. The external energy of the Lord is also under His full control – mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ – BG 9.10. Lord Kapila confirms this,
mad-bhayād vāti vāto ‘yaṁ
sūryas tapati mad-bhayāt
varṣatīndro dahaty agnir
mṛtyuś carati mad-bhayāt
“It is because of My supremacy that the wind blows, out of fear of Me; the sun shines out of fear of Me, and the lord of the clouds, Indra, sends forth showers out of fear of Me. Fire burns out of fear of Me, and death goes about taking its toll out of fear of Me.” SB 3.25.42
The only entity that does not recognize and work under the full control of the Lord is the conditioned living entity who tries to lord over material nature. And who tries to defy the Lord as well!! In that sense, external energy is a better servant of the Lord. It totally functions under the divine will of the Lord. But the conditioned living entities misuse their freewill to a great extent, and thus suffer the threefold miseries of life. Therefore, they constitute what is called as the tatastha sakti, or marginal potency.
An example is given of a sea beach. In a sea beach, the sand is sometimes part of the land, whereas at other times it is a part of the water. Similarly, living entities sometimes come under the sway of maya, and sometimes work under the direction of Lord and His representatives.
There are conditioned souls who are averse to serving the Lord, there are souls who believe in God but don’t serve Him, there are souls who serve the Lord once in a year for a short amount of time and consider themselves very devoted. Absorbed in such varying degrees of services and inclined to serve the external energy, all these souls suffer the reactions of modes of material nature. The root cause of sin is ignorance, or avidya.
Is the soul superior or inferior to maya?
Jiva, or soul, being the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and the superior energy of the Lord, is at a higher position than the external energy.
How then does the living entity become attracted to maya?
Prema vivarta explains,
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga-vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
When a living entity wants to enjoy material nature, he is immediately victimized by the material energy.
A living entity is not forced to come into the material world. He makes his own choice, being attracted by beautiful women. SB 4.25.25 P
An example can be given of a smartphone. A smartphone is fully made up of matter, still it has the power to control us. And we may get so absorbed in it that we may even forget eating and sleeping. That small piece of matter can totally govern us!
For how long the living entity has been in a bewildered state?
CC Madhya 20.117 describes,
kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha
“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.”
What happens by this bewilderment?
It is described in SB 1.7.5 – “Bewildered by that māyā, the jīva, though separate from the three guṇas, considers himself made of the three guṇas and takes on material existence created by the guṇas.“
And the living entities bewildered by maya also talk non-sense. SB 2.5.13 explains,
vilajjamānayā yasya
sthātum īkṣā-pathe ‘muyā
vimohitā vikatthante
mamāham iti durdhiyaḥ
The illusory energy of the Lord cannot take precedence, being ashamed of her position, but those who are bewildered by her always talk nonsense, being absorbed in thoughts of “It is I” and “It is mine.”
The living entity under the sway of external energy thus suffers various distresses. The six-enemies of lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion torment the living entity. The three-fold miseries and four-fold problems keep him always helpless and hopeless. In such a situation, he keeps on trying various methods to extract some happiness through the external energy. But he remains unsuccessful in his attempts. His plans are thwarted by disease and death. His plans are thwarted by the inclusion of various sufferings that come unaccounted for. He has not planned for suffering, yet it comes.
Is there any means to get out?
Surrender to Krishna and His bonafide representatives is the only way of coming out of the clutches of maya. Krishna Himself says,
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. BG 7.14
When we recognize our limited control, our inefficacy to enjoy maya, the living entity turns to the Supreme Lord. By the process of bhakti, the living entity, who is in a marginal position can come under the control of internal energy. Living entity has no choice but to be either governed by external or internal energies. When he makes the right choice, he can get transformed. The real position of the living entity is to be situated under the internal potency. The devotees of the Lord are situated there – mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. When we become sitauted in devotional service to the Lord, we become free from the clutches of the external energy.
