Text 21
na yat purastād uta yan na paścān
madhye ca tan na vyapadeśa-mātram
bhūtaṁ prasiddhaṁ ca pareṇa yad yat
tad eva tat syād iti me manīṣā
na — does not exist; yat — that which; purastāt — previously; uta — nor; yat — which; na — not; paścāt — afterward; madhye — in between; ca — and; tat — that; na — does not exist; vyapadeśa-mātram — merely a designation; bhūtam — created; prasiddham — made known; ca — and; pareṇa — by another; yat yat — whatever; tat — that; eva — only; tat — that other; syāt — actually is; iti — thus; me — My; manīṣā — idea.
That which did not exist in the past and will not exist in the future also has no existence of its own for the period of its duration, but is only a superficial designation. In My opinion, whatever is created and revealed by something else is ultimately only that other thing.
Although all material products, such as our own bodies, are temporary and thus ultimately false, the material world is a real manifestation of the Lord’s potency. The basic substance, or reality, of this world is the Personality of Godhead Himself, whereas the temporary designations imposed by the conditioned souls are illusion. Thus we consider ourselves American, Russian, British, German, Indian, black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and so forth. In fact, we are the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord, but by attempting to exploit the Lord’s inferior material potency we have become entangled in illusion. Everything should be properly defined in terms of the Personality of Godhead, who is the essential reality of this and all other worlds.