The Lord says: That which seems to have some value, but has no connection with Me, know that it is not real. It is only My illusory energy, a reflection in the darkness.

Know that the elements that make up the universe, enter the cosmos while not entering it. Likewise, I exist in all that is created, and simultaneously, I am outside of all things.

Verily, during all phases of cosmic manifestation; its appearance, maintenance, growth, interactions of its various energies, its decay and disappearance, everything rests on the existence of God, the Supreme Person.

Therefore, when this fundamental relationship of all things to the Lord is forgotten and that which has no connection with Him is considered real, such a concept is held to be from the illusory energy of the Lord.

To support this truth, the Lord says: There is nothing that exists apart from Me, that is what you must clearly understand. Nothing is separate from My Person. The entire cosmic manifestation rests in Me, it is not separate from My Person. Before creation, I already existed.

Because nothing can exist outside of Him, one must admit that the illusory energy is indeed an energy of the Lord. The right concept of seeing all things in relation to the Lord is called the energy of union, whereas the energy of illusion is characterised by seeing a thing independently of its relation to the Lord.

Now, because nothing can exist independently or separately from Him, these two Mayas are necessarily related to God, to His Person. However, the erroneous concept of dissociating from the Lord that which exists only in relation to His Person is not false, but illusory.

Mistaking one thing for another is called illusion. For example, mistaking a rope for a snake is an illusion, but the rope is not false. The person who is deluded does have a rope in front of him, but his vision of it is delusional. Moreover, the wrong concept that material manifestation is separate from the energy of the Lord is an illusion, but this material manifestation is not wrong. This illusory concept is a reflection of reality appearing in the darkness of ignorance. Thus, anything that seems not to be produced by the energy of union of God is called maya.

To believe that the separate being or the Lord has no form is also a delusion. Standing on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, in the midst of two armies fighting each other, the Lord declares that Arjuna, His disciple and pure devotee, and all the combatants assembled there, as well as Himself, existed in the past, that they exist in the present, and that in the future also they will always be distinct individuals from each other, even when their bodies are annihilated and they are liberated from bondage to material existence.

The Lord and the created beings remain forever separate persons. They can never lose this personal nature. But only the influence of the illusory energy, that reflection of light in darkness, can rather disappear by the mercy of the Lord.