jÄ«vÄjñÄna-kalpita īśvare, sakala-i ajñÄna
yÄhÄra Å›ravaṇe bhaktera phÄá¹­e mana prÄṇa"

 jÄ«va - the ordinary living being; ajñÄna - by ignorance; kalpita - imagined; Ä«Å›vare - in the Supreme Lord; sakala-i ajñÄna - all ignorance; yÄhÄra Å›ravaṇe - hearing of which; bhaktera - of the devotee; phÄá¹­e - breaks; mana prÄṇa - mind and life.


Text

“The MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosopher tries to establish that the living entity is only imaginary and that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is under the influence of mÄyÄ. Hearing this kind of commentary breaks the heart and life of a devotee.â€

Purport

ÅšrÄ«la SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« wanted to impress upon BhagavÄn Ä€cÄrya that even though someone firmly fixed in devotion to Kṛṣṇa’s service might not be deviated by hearing the MÄyÄvÄda bhÄá¹£ya, that bhÄá¹£ya is nevertheless full of impersonal words and ideas — such as Brahman — which represent knowledge but which are impersonal. The MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s say that the world created by mÄyÄ is false and that actually there is no living entity but only one spiritual effulgence. They further say that God is imaginary, that people think of God only because of ignorance, and that when the Supreme Absolute Truth is befooled by the external energy, mÄyÄ, He becomes a jÄ«va, or living entity. Upon hearing all these nonsensical ideas from the nondevotee, a devotee is greatly afflicted, as if his heart and soul were broken.