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	| Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 
 << Canto 2, The Cosmic Manifestation >>
 << 8 - Questions by King Parīkṣit >>
 
 << VERSE 23 >>
 
 
 यथात्मतन्त्रो भगवान्विक्रीडत्यात्ममाययाyathātma-tantro bhagavānविसृज्य वा यथा मायामुदास्ते साक्षिवद्विभुः
 
 vikrīḍaty ātma-māyayā
 visṛjya vā yathā māyām
 udāste sākṣivad vibhuḥ
 
 WORD BY WORD
 
 yathā  as; ātma-tantraḥ  independent; bhagavān  the Personality of Godhead; vikrīḍati  enjoys His pastimes; ātma-māyayā  by His internal potency; visṛjya  giving up; vā  as also; yathā  as He desires; māyām  the external potency; udāste  remains; sākṣivat  just as the witness; vibhuḥ  the almighty;
 
 TRANSLATION
 
 
 |   | The independent Personality of Godhead enjoys His pastimes by His internal potency and at the time of annihilation gives them up to the external potency, and He remains a witness to it all. 
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 PURPORT
 
 
 |   | Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and fountainhead of all other incarnations, is the only independent person. He enjoys His pastimes by creation as He desires and gives them up to the external energy at the time of annihilation. By His internal potency only, He kills the demon Pūtanā, even though enjoying His pastimes in the lap of His mother Yaśodā. And when He desires to leave this world He creates the pastimes of killing His own family members (Yadu-kula) and remains unaffected by such annihilation. He is the witness of everything that is happening, and yet He has nothing to do with anything. He is independent in every respect. Mahārāja Parīkṣit desired to know more perfectly, for a pure devotee ought to know well. 
 
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