Text 17
īśvarālambanaṁ cittaṁ
kurvato ’nanya-rādhasaḥ
māyā guṇamayī rājan
svapnavat pratyalīyata
īśvara-ālambanam — completely taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord; cittam — his consciousness; kurvataḥ — fixing; ananya-rādhasaḥ — for Rantideva, who was undeviating and desired nothing other than to serve the Supreme Lord; māyā — the illusory energy; guṇa-mayī — consisting of the three modes of nature; rājan — O Mahārāja Parīkṣit; svapna-vat — like a dream; pratyalīyata — merged.
O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, because King Rantideva was a pure devotee, always Kṛṣṇa conscious and free from all material desires, the Lord’s illusory energy, māyā, could not exhibit herself before him. On the contrary, for him māyā entirely vanished, exactly like a dream.
As it is said:
kṛṣṇa — sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra
Just as there is no chance that darkness can exist in the sunshine, in a pure Kṛṣṇa conscious person there can be no existence of māyā. The Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.14):
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” If one wants to be free from the influence of māyā, the illusory energy, one must become Kṛṣṇa conscious and always keep Kṛṣṇa prominent within the core of his heart. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.34) the Lord advises that one always think of Him (man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru). In this way, by always being Kṛṣṇa-minded or Kṛṣṇa conscious, one can surpass the influence of māyā (māyām etāṁ taranti te). Because Rantideva was Kṛṣṇa conscious, he was not under the influence of the illusory energy. The word svapnavat is significant in this connection. Because in the material world the mind is absorbed in materialistic activities, when one is asleep many contradictory activities appear in one’s dreams. When one awakens, however, these activities automatically merge into the mind. Similarly, as long as one is under the influence of the material energy he makes many plans and schemes, but when one is Kṛṣṇa conscious such dreamlike plans automatically disappear.