Vaiṣṇava Siddhānta Mālā Part 1 – Chapter Four
Viśva-Satya
(The World is Real)
Question: Some say that the world is mithya (false), it is created by māyā (the material potency). What is the truth?
Answer: This world is real, but it is temporary. Satya (real) and nitya (eternal) – these two adjectives have different meanings. The world is not eternal because, according to the Lord’s will, at some time it will be destroyed. This world is a reality, it is not false. In some places the śāstra says that this world is false, but it is to be understood that this refers to its impermanence.
Question: What is māyā?
Answer: Bhagavān has His para-śakti, and amongst His unlimited powers, we can identify three potencies. These three potencies are – cid-vikrama (the spiritual energy), jīva-vikrama (the marginal energy) and māyā-vikrama (the material energy). Through the cid-vikrama, the bhagavat-tattva manifests His direct forms (sphūrti), and His expansions (prakāśa). From the jīva-vikrama, the unlimited finite conscious jīvas are manifested. Everything that manifests from the māyā-vikrama is temporary, and although maya creates it, still it is real.
On 18th August 2012, on the occasion of his Vyāsa Pūjā, Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja announced to the devotees that he had a strong desire to create a website called “Bhaktivinoda Institute” in honour of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his teachings in order to preserve and propagate them. 
