CC Madhya 6.182
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 182
- māyāvādam asac-chāstraṁ
- pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate
- mayaiva vihitaṁ devi
- kalau brāhmaṇa-mūrtinā
SYNONYMS
māyāvādam — the philosophy of Māyāvāda; asat-śāstram — false scriptures; pracchannam — covered; bauddham — Buddhism; ucyate — it is said; mayā — by me; eva — only; vihitam — taught; devi — O goddess of the material world; kalau — in the Age of Kali; brāhmaṇa-mūrtinā — having the body of a brāhmaṇa.
TRANSLATION
“[Lord Śiva informed goddess Durgā, the superintendent of the material world:] ‘In the Age of Kali I take the form of a brāhmaṇa and explain the Vedas through false scriptures in an atheistic way, similar to Buddhist philosophy.’”
PURPORT
The word brāhmaṇa-mūrtinā in this verse refers to the founder of Māyāvāda philosophy, Śaṅkarācārya, who was born in the Mālabara district of southern India. Māyāvāda philosophy states that the Supreme Lord, the living entities and the cosmic manifestation are all transformations of illusory energy. To support this atheistic theory, the Māyāvādīs cite false scriptures, which make people bereft of transcendental knowledge and addicted to fruitive activities and mental speculation.
This verse is a quotation from the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa (25.7).