Devanagari
स खल्विदं भगवान् कालशक्त्या
गुणप्रवाहेण विभक्तवीर्य: ।
करोत्यकर्तैव निहन्त्यहन्ता
चेष्टा विभूम्न: खलु दुर्विभाव्या ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
sa khalv idaṁ bhagavān kāla-śaktyā
guṇa-pravāheṇa vibhakta-vīryaḥ
karoty akartaiva nihanty ahantā
ceṣṭā vibhūmnaḥ khalu durvibhāvyā
Synonyms
saḥ
—
the
;
khalu
—
however
;
idam
—
this (universe)
;
bhagavān
—
the Personality of Godhead
;
kāla
—
of time
;
śaktyā
—
by the force
;
guṇa
—
pravāheṇa — by the interaction of the modes of nature
;
vibhakta
—
divided
;
vīryaḥ
—
(whose) potencies
;
karoti
—
acts upon
;
akartā
—
the nondoer
;
eva
—
although
;
nihanti
—
kills
;
ahantā
—
nonkiller
;
ceṣṭā
—
the energy
;
vibhūmnaḥ
—
of the Lord
;
khalu
—
certainly
;
durvibhāvyā
—
inconceivable .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable supreme energy, time, causes the interaction of the three modes of material nature, and thus varieties of energy become manifest. It appears that He is acting, but He is not the actor. He is killing, but He is not the killer. Thus it is understood that only by His inconceivable power is everything happening.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord, acting as the jīvas entering into māyā, separated from himself by the agitation of guṇas through time, acts and does not act. He kills and does not kill. The actions of the Lord are inconceivable.
“If that is so, then creation, maintenance and destruction should occur simultaneously.” No, there is sequential agitation of the guṇas by the time energy. It is not simultaneous. The Lord, as the jīva-śakti entering into māyā-śakti (vīryaḥ), separated from the Lord (vibhakta) by agitation of the guṇas (pravāheṇa) through the time energy, step by step, acts. The Lord is the material cause (upādāna-kāraṇa) and the indirect cause (nimitta-kāraṇa) since he is non-different from his energies of the guṇas, time and the jīva. He is the non-doer, since these items are not the Lord’s svarūpa. Thus he kills and is not the killer. Why does he create the universe? Why does he not continually create the universe (and not have destruction)? Why does he make inequality in the universe? To dismiss such questions it is said that he is inconceivable, since he is the powerful Lord (vibhūmnaḥ). This universe is a manifestation of his power.
Purport
The word
durvibhāvyā
means “inconceivable by our tiny brain,” and
vibhakta-vīryaḥ
means “divided in varieties of potencies.” This is the right explanation of the display of creative energies in the material world. We can better understand the mercy of God by an example: a government state is always supposed to be merciful, but sometimes, in order to keep law and order, the government employs its police force, and thus punishment is meted out to the rebellious citizens. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful and full of transcendental qualities, but certain individual souls have forgotten their relationship with Kṛṣṇa and have endeavored to lord it over material nature. As a result of their endeavor, they are involved in varieties of material interaction. It is incorrect to argue, however, that because energy issues from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the actor. In the previous verse, the word
nimitta-mātram
indicates that the Supreme Lord is completely aloof from the action and reaction of this material world. How is everything being done? The word “inconceivable” has been used. It is not within the power of one’s small brain to comprehend; unless one accepts the inconceivable power and energy of the Lord, one cannot make any progress. The forces which act are certainly set up by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He is always aloof from their action and reaction. The varieties of energies produced by the interaction of material nature produce the varieties of species of life and their resultant happiness and unhappiness.
How the Lord acts is nicely explained in the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa:
fire is situated in one place, while the heat and light produced by the fire act in many different ways. Another example given is that the electric powerhouse is situated in one place, but by its energies many different types of machinery move. The production is never identical with the original source of the energy, but the original source of energy, being the prime factor, is simultaneously one with and different from the product. Therefore Lord Caitanya’s philosophy,
acintya-bhedābheda-tattva,
is the perfect way of understanding. In this material world, the Lord incarnates in three forms — as Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva — by which He takes charge of the three modes of material nature. By His incarnation of Brahmā He creates, as the incarnation of Viṣṇu He maintains, and by His incarnation of Śiva, He also annihilates. But the original source of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva — Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu — is always apart from these actions and reactions of material nature.