idam ittham iti prāyas
tava yogeśvareśvara
na vidanty api yogeśā
yoga-māyāḿ kuto vayam
idam -- this; ittham -- characterized like this; iti -- in such terms; prayah -- for the most part; tava -- Your; yoga-isvara -- of the masters of yoga; isvara -- O supreme master; na vidanti -- they do not know; api -- even; yoga-isah -- the masters of yoga; yoga-mayam -- Your spiritual power of delusion; kutah -- what then of; vayam -- us.
What to speak of ourselves, O Lord of all perfect yogis, even the greatest mystics do not know what Your spiritual power of delusion is or how it acts.
Systematic understanding of something should include knowledge of both its svarupa, or essential identity, and also its viseshas, the attributes that make it different from other things. Maya, the energy underlying all material existence, is more subtle than ordinary phenomena. Only God and His liberated devotees, therefore, can know its svarupa and visesha.
