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The verse is:

विलज्जमानया यस्य स्थातुमीक्षापथेऽमुया
विमोहिता विकत्थन्ते ममाहमिति दुर्धियः ॥ २.५.१३ ॥

Meaning: 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.”

Why does this verse say Lord's illusory energy is ashamed of her position? To whom this verse is pointing? What position it is?

I'm confused because Goddesses are considered to be Lord's energies and this verse is saying ashamed of their (her) position. So, please explain me.

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  • Maya. Iswara covers the world in maya. She knows she is the one that covers the world in maya, that is why it says she is ashamed. She has two powers, Avriti, the veiling power that makes things appear as other than they really are; and Vikshepa, the projecting power, projecting the universe of name and form. She speaks in the third person, that is why She is said to be reticent... Jan 26, 2018 at 5:21
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    @SwamiVishwananda "She speaks in third person" means?
    – user6981
    Jan 26, 2018 at 6:38

1 Answer 1

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How Srila Prabhupada interprets it is that Vishnu's Yogamaya does not have the power to stand in front of Vishnu so she stands behind him. Here is what he says in this section of the Srimad Bhagavatam:

The invincibly powerful deluding energy of the Personality of God, or the third energy, representing nescience, can bewilder the entire world of animation, but still she is not strong enough to be able to stand in front of the Supreme Lord. Nescience is behind the Personality of Godhead, where she is powerful enough to mislead the living beings, and the primary symptom of bewildered persons is that they talk nonsense.

I think what he's saying is that Yogamaya only has the power to delude Jivas, not Sriman Narayana.

In any case, this notion of Yogamaya being embarrassed before Sriman Narayana is verses 59-61 of Ishwara Krishna's Samkhya Karika, which talk about Prakriti being embarrassed before one who has attained Jnana:

As a dancer desists from dancing after showing herself to the audience, so the Nature desists after showing itself to the Spirit. Generous Nature, endowed with the Attributes, without any benefit to itself, causes by manifold means the benefit of the Spirit which is devoid of the Attributes and which confers no benefit in return. Nothing in my opinion is more modest than Nature, who because (of thinking that) “I have been seen”, never again exposes itself to the view of the Spirit.

The only difference is that this is just a metaphor, because the Samkhya school saw Prakriti as an unconscious entity as I discuss here.

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  • Who wrote '"As a dancer....."? And who is Ishwara Krishna?
    – user6981
    Jan 26, 2018 at 7:00
  • @Secret Ishwara Krishna is the author of the Samkhya Karika, a defining text of the Samkhya school. See my question and answer here: hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/21089/36 Jan 26, 2018 at 7:12
  • Have u read anywhere that Goddess herself saying she is embarrassed of her position?
    – user6981
    Jan 26, 2018 at 7:19
  • @Secret No, I haven't. Jan 26, 2018 at 7:20
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    @Secret Well, the one who is speaking verse 13 is the god Brahma, so that's pretty authoritative. Jan 27, 2018 at 18:15

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