FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.54.43

आत्ममोहो नृणामेव कल्पते देवमायया । सुहृद् दुर्हृदुदासीन इति देहात्ममानिनाम् ॥ ४३ ॥
ātma-moho nṛṇām eva
[aatma-moho nrinaam eva]
kalpate deva-māyayā
[kalpate deva-maayayaa]
suhṛd durhṛd udāsīna
[suhrid durhrid udaaseena]
iti dehātma-māninām
[iti dehaatma-maaninaam]
Word-for-word
ātma — about the self mohaḥ — the bewilderment nṛṇām — of men eva — only kalpate — is effected deva — of the Supreme Lord māyayā — by the illusory, material energy suhṛt — a friend durhṛt — an enemy udāsīnaḥ — a neutral party iti — thus thinking deha — the body ātma — as the self māninām — for those who consider .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ātma-moho nṛṇām eva
ātma
about the self
mohaḥ
the bewilderment
nṛṇām
of men
eva
only
kalpate deva-māyayā
kalpate
is effected
deva
of the Supreme Lord
māyayā
by the illusory, material energy
suhṛd durhṛd udāsīna
suhṛt
a friend
durhṛt
an enemy
udāsīnaḥ
a neutral party
iti dehātma-māninām
iti
thus thinking
deha
the body
ātma
as the self
māninām
for those who consider .
Important Words
  • ātma-mohaḥ — the bewilderment about the self
    Ātma (self) + moha (bewilderment). The original ignorance. Cf. CC Madhya 22.31: 'kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga-vāñchā kare' — when the soul turns from Kṛṣṇa, ātma-moha begins. Balarāma names the disease at its root.
  • deva-māyayā — by the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord
    Deva (the Lord) + māyā (His energy). Crucial Gauḍīya formula: māyā is HIS energy, not an independent principle. Cf. BG 7.14, 'daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā.' Māyā is not the Lord's enemy; she is His servant.
  • suhṛt-durhṛt-udāsīnaḥ — friend, enemy, neutral
    Triple compound. The three social positions one classifies others into. Cf. BG 6.9 where the yogi is praised as one who sees all three classes equally. Balarāma is teaching Rukmiṇī to dissolve the distinction by which she has been pleading.
  • deha-ātma-māninām — for those who consider the body to be the self
    Deha (body) + ātma (self) + mānin (considerer). Quadruple compound. The classic Bhāgavata diagnosis of saṁsāra (cf. SB 10.84.13 — 'yasy ātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tridhātuke'). All other errors flow from this primary identification.
  • kalpate — is effected / takes shape
    Present passive of √kḷp. 'Is constructed.' The bewilderment is not native to the soul; it is constructed by māyā upon a deha-mānī. Take away the deha-māna and the moha collapses. Cf. CC's central pedagogy.
The Supreme Lord’s Māyā makes men forget their real selves, and thus, taking the body for the self, they consider others to be friends, enemies or neutral parties.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Supreme Lord's Māyā makes men forget their real selves, and thus, taking the body for the self, they consider others to be friends, enemies or neutral parties.
Commentary

"I know that my brother is evil, but thought that is so, still I have some attachment as a relative. What can I do?" "Certainly for an elevated person like you, such bad judement is not proper. But for worldly people this is their natural tendency. For those who think that their bodies are themselves, there is such bewilderment, but not for the persons in knowledge."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One considers someone as a friend and someone as an enemy. And sometimes one person is considered a friend and sometimes an enemy. Another meaning is as follows. Those who do not experience Kṛṣṇa prema look for friendship elsewhere. That is explained in this and the next verse.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The illusion of the mind or the self produces notions that someone is a friend, someone is an enemy, or someone is neutral by the Lord’s māyā, because people think themselves to be the body. This is all illusion and difficult to surpass. Or this illusion of the self, produced by the Lord’s māyā, causes one to think someone is a friend and someone is an enemy. Mention of enemies and neutral parties is a general statement (not indicating Rukmiṇī’s mind).

Related values & verses
Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Prema (Divine Love)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)
Related verses
SB 1.2BG 9.29 BG 6.9 BG 6.47 BG 16.1 BG 9.26 BG 18.1 BG 12.2 BG 18.65 BG 12.3 BG 12.13
Concepts
MayaJiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Māyā makes men forget themselves; taking body as self, they consider others friends, enemies, neutral parties. Categories of relationship are products of forgetting the true self.
Reflection Questions
  • How would your friend/enemy/neutral categories change if you remembered the true self?
  • Where does forgetting drive your categorization?
Analogy

Like a man wearing tinted glasses who insists the world is red, men under māyā take the body for the self and then classify others as friend, enemy, or stranger on that mistaken basis. The Vaiṣṇava answer is not to remove the classifications but to relocate them: friend, enemy, neutral, all are equally servants-of-Kṛṣṇa, equally to be wished well.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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