Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.85.44
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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yoga-māyām
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Your internal potency Yoga-māyā
The internal energy by which Bhagavān arranges His own pastimes. Distinct from mahā-māyā, which deludes the conditioned. Yoga-māyā is the choreographer of all līlā; even yoga-īśas cannot map her workings.
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yoga-īśāḥ
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masters of yoga
Plural of yoga-īśa: those who have mastered yogic disciplines. Even they are outside the secret. Gauḍīyas: only kṛpā opens this door, not technique.
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kutaḥ vayam
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what to speak of us
Interrogative + pronoun: 'from where (could) we (know)?' The bhakta's structural humility — Bali, who literally has the Lord in front of him, denies any independent capacity to know Him.
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na vidanti
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they do not know
Negative + present plural of √vid. The verb of jñāna emphatically negated. Yoga-māyā is by definition unknowable; only the Lord's own self-revelation opens her workings.
Systematic understanding of something should include knowledge of both its svarūpa, or essential identity, and also its viśeṣas, the attributes that make it different from other things. Māyā, the energy underlying all material existence, is more subtle than ordinary phenomena. Only God and His liberated devotees, therefore, can know its svarūpa and viśeṣa.
"Well why do I do that?" "No one knows the truth about you." That is expressed in this verse. "The masters of yoga do not know your yogamaya, what it is (idam) or even how its parts (ittham) work, what to speak of us."
The Kumāras and others (yogeśāḥ) cannot know your special powers (yogam-māyām), because you possess inconceivable, unlimited great powers (yogeśvareśvara). This is generally so (prāyaḥ), since some devotees can understand your powers. Or, the devatās alone deserve to see you and not me. Then verses 41-43 are spoken. Because the demons such as I are firmly inimical to you, some become extremely inimical. Others who develop bhakti but with self interest only are thus truly still firmly inimical to you. The devatās are not like that since they have sattva. Thus they are qualified to attract you and see you. How then can we know the reason that you in your form as Svayam Bhagavān along with Balarāma came here so that I can see you? The present verse the answers this question: no one knows. Or, you come to display your powers by showing your special mercy. He praises Kṛṣṇa’s mercy in this verse. No one knows your mercy (māyā) which is your special power (yoga). Even persons like the Kumāras do not know by what cause such mercy (ittham idam) will occur since you have unlimited powers such as the ability to produce continuous effects (yogeśvareśvara).
- What aspect of God am I overconfident about understanding?
- Where could admitting 'I do not know' become my next breakthrough?
Even the great mystics, who command yoga, cannot read the manual of Yoga-māyā. The author is hidden inside the device; the device produces the world for the user, but no user sees how. Bali's confession is the proper humility of even advanced yogis.
My note
Source: vedabase.io