5.58
sei ta’ mayara dui-vidha avasthiti
jagatera upadana ’pradhana’, prakrti
SYNONYMS
sei—that; ta’-certainly; mayara—of the material energy; dui-vidha—two varieties; avasthiti—existence; jagatera—of the material world; upadana—the ingredients; pradhana—named pradhana; prakrti—material nature.
Maya has two varieties of existence.
One is called pradhana or prakrti.
It supplies the ingredients of the material world.
PURPORT
Maya, the external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is divided into two parts.
Maya is the cause and the ingredient of the cosmic manifestation.
As the cause of the cosmic manifestation she is known as maya, and as the agent supplying the ingredients of the cosmic manifestation she is known as pradhana.
An explicit description of these divisions of external energy is given in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.24.1-4).
Elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.63.26) the ingredients and cause of the material cosmic manifestation are described as follows:
kalo daivam karma jivah svabhavo
dravyam ksetram prana atma vikarah
tat-sanghato bija-roha-pravahas
tvan-mayaisa tan-nisedham prapadye “O my Lord! Time, activity, providence and nature are four parts of the causal aspect (maya) of the external energy.
The conditioned vital force, the subtle material ingredients called the dravya, and material nature (which is the field of activity where the false ego acts as the soul), as well as the eleven senses and five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), which are the sixteen ingredients of the body-these are the ingredient aspect of maya.
The body is generated from activity, and activity is generated from the body, just as a tree is generated from a seed that is generated from a tree.
This reciprocal cause and effect is called maya.
My dear Lord, You can save me from this cycle of cause and effect.
I worship Your lotus feet.” Although the living entity is primarily related to the causal portion of maya, he is nevertheless conducted by the ingredients of maya.
Three forces work in the causal portion of maya: knowledge, desire and activity.
The material ingredients are a manifestation of maya as pradhana.
In other words, when the three qualities of maya are in a dormant stage, they exist as prakrti, avyakta or pradhana.
The word avyakta, referring to the nonmanifest, is another name of pradhana.
In the avyakta stage, material nature is without varieties.
Varieties are manifested by the pradhana portion of maya.
The word pradhana is therefore more important than avyakta or prakrti.