yathÄ Å›ayÄnaḥ puruá¹£a
ÄtmÄnaá¹ guṇa-tattva-dá¹›k
nÄma-mÄtrendriyÄbhÄtaá¹
na veda rahitaá¹ param
evaá¹ tvÄ nÄma-mÄtreá¹£u
viá¹£ayeá¹£v indriyehayÄ
mÄyayÄ vibhramac-citto
na veda smá¹›ty-upaplavÄt

 yathÄ - as; Å›ayÄnaḥ - sleeping; puruá¹£aḥ - a person; ÄtmÄnam - himself; guṇa - secondary; tattva - of reality; dá¹›k - whose vision; nÄma - with names; mÄtra - and forms; indriya - through his mind; ÄbhÄtam - manifest; na veda - he does not know; rahitam - separate; param - rather; evam - similarly; tvÄ - You; nÄma-mÄtreá¹£u - having names and forms; viá¹£ayeá¹£u - in objects of material perception; indriya - of the senses; Ä«hayÄ - by the activity; mÄyayÄ - because of the influence of Your illusory energy; vibhramat - becoming bewildered; cittaḥ - whose consciousness; na veda - one does not know; smá¹›ti - of his memory; upaplavÄt - due to the disruption.


Text

A sleeping person imagines an alternative reality for himself and, seeing himself as having various names and forms, forgets his waking identity, which is distinct from the dream. Similarly, the senses of one whose consciousness is bewildered by illusion perceive only the names and forms of material objects. Thus such a person loses his memory and cannot know You.

Purport

Just as a person’s dream is a secondary reality created from the stock of his memories and desires, so this universe exists as the inferior creation of the Supreme Lord, in no real way separate from Him. And just as the person who awakens from sleep experiences the higher reality of his waking life, so the Supreme Lord also has His distinct, higher reality beyond everything we know of this world. In His own words,

mayÄ tatam idaá¹ sarvaá¹
 jagad avyakta-mÅ«rtinÄ
mat-sthÄni sarva-bhÅ«tÄni
 na cÄhaá¹ teá¹£v avasthitaḥ
na ca mat-sthÄni bhÅ«tÄni
 paÅ›ya me yogam aiÅ›varam
bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho
 mamÄtmÄ bhÅ«ta-bhÄvanaḥ

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everything, I am not part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.†(Bg. 9.4-5)