Shree Krishna had mentioned two of His divine energies earlier in this chapter, in verses 7.4 and 7.5. The eight-fold
prakṛiti, or the material energy, and
the
jīva śhakti,
or the soul energy. Now, He talks about His third and the most powerful energy that is the
Yogmaya.
The Viṣhṇu Purāṇ states
viṣhṇu śhaktiḥ parā proktā kṣhetrajñākhyā tathā ’parā
avidyā karma saṁjñānyā tṛitīyā śhaktiriṣhyate
(6.7.61) [v22]
“The Supreme Lord Shree Vishnu has three main energies—
Yogmaya
, the souls, and Maya.”
Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj states
śhaktimān kī śhaktiyāñ, aganita yadapi bakhāna
tin mahañ ‘māyā, ‘jīva, aru, ‘parā, triśhakti pradhāna
(Bhakti Śhatak verse 3) [v23]
“The Supreme Energetic Shree Krishna has infinite energies. Amongst these,
Yogmaya
, the souls, and Maya are the main ones.”
God descends in this world by virtue of His
Yogmaya
energy and reveals His divine pastimes, His divine abode, His divine bliss and love on the Earth plane. However, the same
Yogmaya
power keeps His divinity veiled from us. We are unable to feel His presence, although He is seated in our hearts. Even in the present, if we are fortunate enough to see the Lord in His personal-form, we cannot recognize Him. Until we are eligible for His divine vision, the
Yogmaya
keeps God’s divine form concealed from us. And only by God’s grace, the
Yogmaya
bestows upon us the divine vision that allows us to recognize and see God.
The
Ramayan
states
chidānandamaya deha tumhārī, bigata bikāra jāna adhikārī
[v24]
“O God, you have a divine form. Only those whose hearts are purified can know you by your grace.”
Similar to God, His
Yogmaya
energy is both formless and manifests into personal forms. Radha, Sita, Lakshmi, Parvati. Durga, Kali, etc., are the divine forms of the
Yogmaya
energy of God. In the Vedic culture, all these forms are revered; as the Mother of the Universe. She radiates the motherly qualities of kindness, mercy, compassion, beauty, divine grace, and causeless love. Among these, the most important quality for us souls is Her divine grace with which we can acquire transcendental knowledge to know God. It is for the same reason, the devotees of Vrindavan sing,
“Radhe Radhe, Shyam se milā de,”
“O Radha, please bestow your grace and help me meet Shree Krishna.”
Therefore, the same
Yogmaya–
conceals God from the unqualified souls and bestows Her divine grace upon the surrendered souls, for they can know Him. However, those souls who are under the influence of
Maya
or the material energy turn their backs towards God. They remain bereft of the divine grace of His
Yogmaya
energy and continue living in ignorance, entangled in
Maya
. Others who have turned to God are in the shelter of
Yogmaya
and liberated from
Maya.