Verse 14

In plain words

But then, how does anyone actually get past this divine power of yours, made of the three guṇas? Here is the answer —

This power is divine — it belongs to the Deva, to me, the Lord, to Viṣṇu, and it is nothing less than my own very nature. And precisely because it is that, this guṇa-woven māyā of mine is genuinely hard to cross. But here is what happens when someone lets go of every other undertaking and turns to me alone — me, the very master of this māyā, who am also their own innermost self — and surrenders with their whole being: they cross this māyā, this power that deceives every other creature, and cross it completely. And in crossing it, they are set free from the whole bondage of birth and death.

Close to the Sanskrit

How, then, does one cross beyond this divine, three-guṇa-consisting, Viṣṇu's own māyā? — it is said in answer —

Divine — of the Deva, my, of the Lord, of Viṣṇu — which is his own nature; for, since this, as already described, consisting of the guṇas, my māyā is hard to cross — the crossing, the transcending, of which is difficult, that [māyā] is hard to cross. This being so, having abandoned all duties, [those who take refuge] in me alone, the possessor of māyā, who am one's own very self, with their whole self, who take refuge — they cross over, transcend, this māyā which deludes all beings; they are released from the bondage of transmigration. That is the meaning.

In plain words

The Paramātma would answer at once, with a smile. Now too, to make known this defect of vision and its cause, He spoke thus: “Brother-in-law! Listen. Between this world and Me there moves the delusion called ‘Māyā’. It is hard for men to conquer it. It, too, is Mine. Māyā is not something different from Me; it lies within My own creation and is under My control. In a single minute it turns anyone at all upside down. You too may think, ‘Is it really so hard to conquer?’ It is hard. Even you conquered the wind with ease, but Māyā you cannot conquer. That is no easy task; you cannot conquer it. Only those who have taken refuge in Me completely can conquer this Māyā.”

In plain words

“Only through Jñāna of the Paramātma can it be crossed; by other paths no one can cross it. To superimpose the properties of the prāṇa on the Paramātma: that is Māyā! Pleasure and pain are properties of the Manas; birth and death are properties of the body; hunger and thirst are properties of the prāṇa. These are properties of the anātma, not properties of the Ātma. To superimpose the properties of the anātma on the Ātma: that is Māyā. It cannot go even near those who have sought refuge in Me. To one who looks with his gaze fixed on Māyā, Māyā rises in the way like a boundless ocean. To those who look with their gaze fixed on the Paramātma, Māyā itself becomes Mādhava and stands revealed. Whether by the feeling of oneness with God or by Śaraṇāgati, the obstruction of Māyā can be overcome; the one is called the path of Jñāna and the other the path of Bhakti.”