Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya

Now Sri Krishna will talk about the spiritual energy:

Bg 7.5

apareyam itas tv anyāṁ
prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho
yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat

Word for word: 

aparā — inferior; iyam — this; itaḥ — besides this; tu — but; anyām — another; prakṛtim — energy; viddhi — just try to understand; me — My; parām — superior; jīva–bhūtām — comprising the living entities; mahā–bāho — O mighty-armed one; yayā — by whom; idam — this; dhāryate — is utilized or exploited; jagat — the material world.

Translation: 

Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.

So apareyam itas, apart from this there is another, so this was inferior energy, this was apara and para are categories apara refers to lower and para refers to superior or higher. apareyam itas  so apart from this inferior there is anyā means another, what is that? prakṛtiḿ viddhi me parām, that is my para prakriti, that is my superior energy, and then jīva–bhūtāḿ mahā–bāho, there are living entities, maha-baho refers to Arjuna O mighty arm, so what these living entities are doing? yayedaḿ dhāryate jagat, so they are maintaining the world, how do they maintain the world? So this is used in a slightly sarcastic sense, the living entities are maintaining the world in the sense that the prisoners are maintaining the prison. If there is no prisoner then there is no need to maintain the prison. So in a sense yayedaḿ dhāryate means it is maintained for them because they are there so it is maintained. So because the prisoners are there so prison has to be there. Of course we all know it is not that we are maintaining this world, we are not causing the rains to fall, the sun to raise, we cannot cause all this we are not the maintainer, so definitely when Sri Krishna is referring over here he is not referring to us as maintainer so this is in this sense. Now someone can say no-no this refers to living entity maintaining the world so are the living entity themselves the absolute truth? So if that were the case then why these living entities have to surrender to the absolute truth they have to beg for the mercy of the absolute truth? If we are maintainer of the jail then we are not trapped in the jail we don’t have to ask anyone O please release me form the jail. We are the maintainer of the jail we can go out at any time. But we can’t do that and that is why we can’t say in the literal sense that we are the maintainer. We are that Supreme Being who is maintaining the world. Srila Prabhupada quotes a verse from SB 10.87.30, this is one of the concluding section of SB

aparimitā dhruvās tanu-bhṛto yadi sarva-gatās

tarhi na śāsyateti niyamo dhruva netarathā

ajani ca yan–mayaḿ tad avimucya niyantṛ bhavet

samam anujānatāḿ yad amataḿ mata–duṣṭatayā

“O Supreme Eternal! If the embodied living entities were eternal and all-pervading like You, then they would not be under Your control. But if the living entities are accepted as minute energies of Your Lordship, then they are at once subject to Your supreme control. Therefore real liberation entails surrender by the living entities to Your control, and that surrender will make them happy. In that constitutional position only can they be controllers. Therefore, men with limited knowledge who advocate the monistic theory that God and the living entities are equal in all respects are actually guided by a faulty and polluted opinion.”

mata–duṣṭatayā, means that is faulty and polluted opinion. 

aparimitā dhruvās tanu-bhṛto yadi sarva-gatās, sarva-gatās is all pervading. aparimitā is unlimited or eternal. tanu-bhṛto means those who are embodied. If they were all pervading if they were as eternal as you my dear Lord then they would not be under your control, they would not beg mercy from you so that they would become liberated the fact that they have to beg mercy means that they are not infinite living beings they are finite living beings and that is how they are subordinate.

Then Srila Prabhupada talks about that there are two energies there are matter and there are spirit, matter has eight categories earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego and spirit or soul and Supreme Lord, so He will talk about self in the next verse, here Sri Krishna is talking about how He is source of everything

End of transcription.