Gita 07.25 – Yoga Maya is a profound oxymoron

Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-07-25-yoga-maya-is-a-profound-oxymoron/

nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya
yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ
mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti
loko mām ajam avyayam (Bg 7.25)

Word for word:
na — nor; aham — I; prakāśaḥ — manifest; sarvasya — to everyone; yoga-māyā — by internal potency; samāvṛtaḥ — covered; mūḍhaḥ — foolish; ayam — these; na — not; abhijānāti — can understand; lokaḥ — persons; mām — Me; ajam — unborn; avyayam — inexhaustible.

Translation:
I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.

Explanation:
nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya: I am not manifest to everyone.
yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ: I am covered by My internal potency, yoga-māyā.
mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti: Such foolish people do not recognize
loko mām ajam avyayam: Me—who am unborn and imperishable.

In this verse, Kṛṣṇa explains why people don’t know Him. In the previous ten verses, He described how different people relate to Him: some openly defy Him, some surrender elsewhere—to the devatās or to the impersonal Brahman—and some devote themselves directly to Him. And this last category, He says, is extremely rare. Kṛṣṇa has already highlighted the rarity of such devotion twice—first at the very start of this chapter, in 7.3:
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
Among thousands of people, only a few even attempt to understand Him. And among those who strive and attain some level of perfection, only a rare soul truly comes to know Him as He is.

The same point is repeated in 7.19:
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ
Kṛṣṇa says that the mahātmā who understands Vāsudeva to be everything and surrenders to Him is su-durlabhaḥ—extremely rare. The verse uses a double intensifier: labha means to gain, durlabha means difficult to gain, and su-durlabha means exceedingly difficult to attain. Reaching this elevated state of enlightened recognition of Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy is therefore exceptionally rare.

The question may arise: why is it that people are unable to know Him? In one sense, Kṛṣṇa has already addressed this earlier. In 7.13, He says:
tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
There, Kṛṣṇa states that it is because of the three modes of material nature that people cannot know Him; the entire world is deluded by these modes. The emphasis is on mohitam—being deluded. Because they are thus deluded, nābhijānāti—they cannot recognize Him as the transcendental reality beyond the modes (mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam).

Here, in verse 7.25, Kṛṣṇa says nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ—I am not manifest to everyone, being covered by My internal potency, yoga-māyā. He further states mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti—the foolish do not know Me. Kṛṣṇa had used this same expression nābhijānāti earlier in 7.13 (mohitaṁ nābhijānāti).

In 7.13, the emphasis was on how people, being deluded by the three modes, fail to recognize Him as mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam, the Supreme who is beyond the modes. Here, in 7.25, the focus is slightly different: loko mām ajam avyayam—people do not recognize Me as the unborn and imperishable Lord. The describer avyaya (imperishable) has already appeared three times in this chapter whenever Kṛṣṇa speaks about His own transcendental position. This repetition underscores the same central message: Kṛṣṇa is the all-attractive supreme.

yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ: Kṛṣṇa’s energies are broadly categorized into mahāmāyā and yogamāyā. The energy that covers the conditioned soul and keeps one bound in forgetfulness is called mahāmāyā. The same Lord also has another energy—yogamāyā—which covers not the conditioned souls but the liberated devotees.

For instance, mother Yaśodā does not see Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord. She sees Him as her little son—dependent and in need of her care. She thinks that if she does not feed Him, He will starve, become weak or even die. From an objective standpoint, this is also a form of illusion. But it is an illusion that draws the devotee closer to Kṛṣṇa by intensifying affection, dependence, and devotion. Such illusion is therefore spiritually elevating. That is yogamāyā.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also uses the phrase yoga-māyām upāśritya (SB 10.29.1) in the Rāsa-pañcādhyāyī. There, it conveys how, by the influence of yoga-māyā, the gopīs forgot that Kṛṣṇa is God. Freed from any sense of awe and reverence, they moved closer and closer to Him, thinking of Him simply as their beloved.

Normally, yoga and māyā appear to be opposites. Yoga connects us with Kṛṣṇa, while māyā separates us from Him. How, then, can yoga-māyā come together? It may seem oxymoronic—like calling someone a courageous coward, a brilliant idiot, a chaste prostitute, or an honest thief. These are contradictions. Is yoga-māyā also a contradiction?

No. Because there is an illusion that distances us from Kṛṣṇa, and there is an illusion that draws us closer to Him. Yoga-māyā is the divine arrangement that makes us forget Kṛṣṇa’s majesty so that we can concentrate on His sweetness. It helps us relish His intimate charm and enables Him to relish the beauty of our uninhibited love—love no longer restrained by awareness of His greatness.

Though Kṛṣṇa is a sweet, all-attractive, all-loving person, He is not known in this way to everyone. He reveals this intimate vision only to those who genuinely desire to love Him. By yoga-māyā, He remains covered. In this context, the word yoga-māyā does not always carry the technical Gauḍīya meaning. It can also indicate that the material energy cannot cover Kṛṣṇa at all; the only ‘covering’ possible is by His own spiritual potency—yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ—“I am covered by My yoga-māyā.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda would explain that from Kṛṣṇa’s point of view, both His material energy and His spiritual energy are ultimately the same. Just as, from the perspective of the person managing a power station, the same electricity flows outward, yet from the consumer’s point of view that electricity may heat in one appliance and cool in another, similarly, from our perspective, one energy seems to take us away from Kṛṣṇa and another draws us toward Him. But from His perspective, it is the same energy acting according to His will.

Kṛṣṇa then says, mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti—the fools do not know. What is it that they fail to understand? Loko mām ajam avyayam—that I am unborn and imperishable. Kṛṣṇa is declaring that He exists beyond the time dimension (ajam and avyayam). By stating this, He directly counters the misconception described in the previous verse—avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ—that He was once unmanifest and then became manifest. No. Even as He stands before Arjuna, He remains unborn, imperishable, and completely beyond the influence of time. Yet, He manifests within time without ever being affected by it. Such is the extraordinary potency of Kṛṣṇa.

It is not that Kṛṣṇa wants to keep Himself hidden from us; rather, He reciprocates with our desires. When we do not wish to know Him, He remains hidden. Kṛṣṇa uses the phrase mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti—“the foolish do not recognize Me.” Here, the word mūḍha is not a condemnation but an observation. Kṛṣṇa is not condemning people as fools; He is simply acknowledging that their present state is one of foolishness. And yet, even for such people, He remains approachable. Even for them, He is merciful. He resides in their hearts, and He continues to work for their spiritual elevation and eventual liberation.

Their misfortune is that they are so captivated by worldly illusion that they cannot perceive the higher spiritual reality of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental position. Because He is covered by yoga-māyā, they are unable to understand Him. Of course, just as clouds never cover the sun but only the eyes of those looking at the sun, no energy can actually cover Kṛṣṇa; it can only cover those who try to perceive Him. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa speaks from their viewpoint when He says, “They cannot know Me.”

Thank you.