God's External Potency - The Shadow of the Spiritual World
When confronted with the miseries of the material world, many thinkers falsely conclude that the material nature operates independently, or that God Himself is somehow entangled in the suffering of His creation. The Vedic literatures clear away this confusion by explaining the profound science of the Lord's distinct energies. The Absolute Truth is one, but He expands His power through three primary categories: the internal, external, and marginal potencies. Śrīla Prabhupāda provides a crystal-clear analysis of how the external potency is responsible for manifesting the temporary material universe and bewildering the conditioned souls. By studying the specific function of the external potency, how it interacts with the marginal living entities, and how the Supreme Lord remains perfectly immune to its influence, one can map the exact route to escaping material entanglement and returning to the spiritual realm.
The Three Principal Potencies
To understand the structure of reality, one must comprehend how the Supreme Lord distributes His power. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while God's energies are unlimited, they are systematically grouped into three main categories: the internal (spiritual), the external (material), and the marginal (living entities).
- The Lord is endowed with unlimited potencies, which are summarized as three, namely external, internal and marginal.
- The external potency manifests this material world, the internal potency manifests the spiritual world, and the marginal potency manifests the living entities, who are mixtures of internal and external.
- The Lord possesses His internal energy, His external, marginal and relative energies, the manifestation of the cosmic world and the living entities. The external energy is manifested by the qualitative modes of material nature.
- There are two kinds of nature, namely the material nature and the spiritual nature, or the external and internal potencies of the Lord. The material nature is called apara, or inferior, and the spiritual nature is called superior or transcendental.
The Manifestation of the Material Cosmos
The physical universe is not the true home of the spirit soul; it is a temporary shadow. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the material cosmos, composed of dull ingredients like earth and water, is purely the creation of the Lord's external, inferior potency.
- By His external potency the Lord manifests the material creation, just as the sun with its rays creates fog. The material creation is but a perverse reflection of the eternal Vaikuntha nature.
- The eight ingredients make up the material nature, or the Supreme Lord's external potency. These material ingredients - earth, water, fire, air, and so on - are devoid of any free will, and so they are known as the Lord's inferior energy.
- The universe is nothing but the external potency of the Lord. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: maya tatam idam sarvam.
- The Vaikuntha planets are a manifestation of the Lord's internal potency, while the material world is a manifestation of His external potency.
The Marginal Potency in Illusion
Because the living entities (jīvas) belong to the marginal potency, they are susceptible to the influence of both the spiritual and material realms. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes the tragedy of the conditioned souls who allow themselves to be overpowered by the external potency, leading to false pride and illusion.
- The jiva potency, or the ksetrajna-sakti of the Lord, has the tendency to be overpowered by the external potency, avidya-karma-samjna, and in this way he is placed in the awkward circumstances of material existence.
- The spiritual sparks known as the living entities are subjected to the conditions of material energy. It is because these sparks are related with both the internal and external potencies of the Lord that they are known as belonging to the marginal potency.
- Illusioned by the external potency of the purusa (the Lord), the living entities falsely think of themselves as the purusa although they actually have no qualifications.
- When Vyasadeva realized the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he saw the Lord along with His external potency, which covers the pure knowledge of the individual living entities.
The Absolute Independence of the Lord
A common philosophical error is to assume that if God created the material energy, He must be somehow affected or restricted by it. Śrīla Prabhupāda heavily refutes this, proving that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always aloof and remains the absolute master of the external potency.
- Both the internal and external potencies are under the control of the Supreme, so He does not come under the control of either of these potencies.
- The external potency of Godhead, called maya, can never associate with the Lord, just as darkness cannot remain in the presence of light; yet darkness, being but an illusory and temporary covering of light, has no existence independent of light.
- If it is possible for a devotee to remain transcendental, it is certainly possible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to remain in His internal potency without being attached to the external potency. There should be no difficulty in understanding this situation.
- He is aloof from all these interactions of the external and marginal potencies. In the Bhagavad-gita it is confirmed that by His potencies alone He is present everywhere and anywhere.
Conclusion
A deep and careful study of the Vedic literatures permanently clears away the confusion regarding the nature of the material world and its relationship to God. As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully outlines, the Absolute Truth exhibits His unlimited power through three primary divisions: the internal potency, the external potency, and the marginal potency. The material cosmos is not an independent entity, nor is it the true home of the spirit soul; it is merely a temporary, perverse reflection of the spiritual world, manifested entirely by the Lord's external potency. Because this energy is composed of dull matter and is devoid of free will, it is properly recognized as the Lord's inferior energy. The living entities, however, are spiritual sparks belonging to the marginal potency. Their great misfortune occurs when, instead of taking shelter of the internal potency, they allow themselves to be overpowered by the external potency (māyā). Once enveloped by this inferior energy, the tiny souls are placed into the awkward condition of material existence, where they suffer from false ego and foolishly attempt to imitate the Supreme Lord as the puruṣa (the supreme enjoyer). Yet, while the conditioned souls are completely bound by the external potency, the Supreme Personality of Godhead remains absolutely independent. Just as thick fog obscures the vision of a person on the ground but cannot cover the sun itself, the external potency can bewilder the marginal living entity but can never associate with or contaminate the Supreme Lord. By thoroughly understanding how the external potency operates and keeping our focus exclusively on the Lord's internal, spiritual energy, we can break free from the darkness of material illusion and return to the eternal light of the spiritual sky.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God's External Potency. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.