śrī-bhagavān uvāca
siddhayo 'ṣṭādaśa proktā
dhāraṇā yoga-pāra-gaiḥ
tāsām aṣṭau mat-pradhānā
daśaiva guṇa-hetavaḥ
sri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; siddhayah -- mystic perfections; ashtadasa -- eighteen; proktah -- are declared; dharanah -- meditations; yoga -- of yoga; para-gaih -- by the masters; tasam -- of the eighteen; ashtau -- eight; mat-pradhanah -- have their shelter in Me; dasa -- ten; eva -- indeed; guna-hetavah -- are manifested from the material mode of goodness.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The masters of the yoga system have declared that there are eighteen types of mystic perfection and meditation, of which eight are primary, having their shelter in Me, and ten are secondary, appearing from the material mode of goodness.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains the word mat pradhanah as follows. Lord Krishna is naturally the shelter of the eight primary mystic potencies and meditations because such perfections emanate from the Lord's personal potency, and thus they are fully developed only within the Lord Himself and the Lord's personal associates. When materialistic persons mechanically acquire such potencies, the perfections awarded are of an inferior degree and are considered to be manifestations of maya, illusion. A pure devotee of the Lord automatically receives from the Lord wonderful potencies to execute his devotional service. If for sense gratification one mechanically endeavors to acquire mystic perfections, then these perfections are certainly considered to be inferior expansions of the Lord's external potency.
