POWER OF ILLUSION – STORY
We have read HERE about Chayavan Muni who was living under the water, one day, saw a male and female fish enjoying the pleasures together.
This is the Power of Illusion. Srila Prabhupada gives a few more such examples here:
“We read a similar story in the life of Vishvamitra muni. He was such a great powerful yogi that he was able to sit in meditation in the winter in the peaks of the Himalayas with breaking ice and keeping his body up to his neck in the ice for 6 months at a time.
Sometimes we are afraid of a cold bath which lasts about 15 or 20 seconds . He spent 6 months in ice without being disturbed, such was his power. But by the power of the illusory energy, just the tinkling of the ankle bells of Menaka was able to bewilder his mind and cast him deeply into the abyss of the material sense enjoyment.
But it is described that Srila Haridas Thakur, even the personification of Maya with all of her potencies came before him to try to dissuade him from his wows. Because with great humility he was taking shelter of Krishna through His name, ultimately Maya became his disciple. Ultimately she surrendered to him.
So the conclusion is that the devotee of the Lord understands that it is only by the power of God, it is only by the power of Krishna that we can do anything.
It is only by power of Krishna that we can be protected and therefore, the devotee with all humility is always seeking shelter of the lord.
Therefore such a devotee is never vanquished by the material energy.
But those foolish materialistic people and even those less intelligent spiritualists who are dependent on their own powers, on their own abilities, on their own opulence, they are birth after birth after birth frustrated , frustrated by the inflictions of the modes of material nature.