Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Ādi 5.83
Material Nature Depends on Mahā-Viṣṇu
“The puruṣa [Mahā-Viṣṇu] is the primary incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Time, nature, prakṛti (as cause and effect), the mind, the material elements, false ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form, complete independence and the moving and nonmoving beings appear subsequently as His opulences.”
What the purport teaches
- Mahā-Viṣṇu is the plenary portion through whom Lord Kṛṣṇa conducts the affairs of material creation. He is the primal beginning of all incarnations.
- Material nature cannot independently supply the material elements or cause the material manifestation. Both powers come from the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu.
- The Lord’s plenary expansions are as good as Viṣṇu Himself, like many flames lit from one flame. Their work of empowering material energy gives them a relationship with māyā.
Try this today
Look at one natural object today and recall that material nature’s power depends on Mahā-Viṣṇu.
Ask yourself
How does this teaching change your understanding of material nature’s power?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.