Devanagari
कालं चरन्तं सृजतीश आश्रयं ।
प्रधानपुम्भ्यां नरदेव सत्यकृत् ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
kālaṁ carantaṁ sṛjatīśa āśrayaṁ
pradhāna-pumbhyāṁ nara-deva satya-kṛt
Synonyms
kālam
—
time
;
carantam
—
moving
;
sṛjati
—
creates
;
īśaḥ
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
āśrayam
—
shelter
;
pradhāna
—
for the material energy
;
pumbhyām
—
and the living entity
;
nara
—
deva — O ruler of men
;
satya
—
true
;
kṛt
—
creator .
Translation
O great King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of the material and spiritual energies, who is certainly the creator of the entire cosmos, creates the time factor to allow the material energy and the living entity to act within the limits of time. Thus the Supreme Personality is never under the time factor nor under the material energy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! The Supreme Lord, creator of a real universe, creates time, which acts as a cause, which is an assistant to the Lord, and which exists along with prakṛti and jīva.
The previous verse mentioned that when the Lord desires to create he manifested rajas. This would imply that the Lord is controlled by time. This verse rejects that idea. O King! The Lord creates time, which acts as the cause assisting the Lord, since time is a form of his action. The meaning is this. When the Lord desires to create, by his own will, the time for creation with increase of rajas appears. When the Lord desires to maintain, the time for protection with increase of sattva appears. When he desires to destroy, the time of destruction with increase of tamas appears. These particular times are created by the Lord. Thus the meaning should be “When the time of creation appears, then creation takes place.” “When” should mean “special time.” This is created by the Lord.
It was also said that at the time of prominence of sattva, the devatās are favored. This again may indicate the Lord’s dependence on time. But this verse refutes that conception. Time exists along with māyā-śakti (pradhāna) and his expansions (pumbhyām). [Note: This probably means the jīva.] Because he is their cause, he is independent. Because matter is the product, the whole universe is dependent on him. “But the universe, the product, is illusory. Some say that it is futile to argue about dependence or independence of illusory objects.” The Lord is the creator of real objects (satya-kṛt). Therefore one should not say that the universe, the product of his real śakti, is illusory. This false philosophy implies that if the effects are all illusory, the Supreme Lord to be inferred from the effects cannot be proved. Madhva quotes śruti to prove the point. Satyaṁ hy evedaṁ viśvam asrjata: the Lord created the real universe.
Purport
One should not think that the Lord is dependent on the time factor. He actually creates the situation by which material nature acts and by which the conditioned soul is placed under material nature. Both the conditioned soul and the material nature act within the time factor, but the Lord is not subject to the actions and reactions of time, for time has been created by Him. To be more clear, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says that creation, maintenance and annihilation are all under the supreme will of the Lord.
In
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.7)
the Lord says:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.” Since Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the controller of everything, when He appears He is not within the limitations of material time (
janma karma ca me divyam
). In this verse the words
kālaṁ carantaṁ sṛjatīśa āśrayam
indicate that although the Lord acts within time, whether
sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa
or
tamo-guṇa
is prominent, one should not think that the Lord is under time’s control. Time is within His control, for He creates time to act in a certain way; He is not working under the control of time. The creation of the material world is one of the Lord’s pastimes. Everything is fully under His control. Since creation takes place when
rajo-guṇa
is prominent, the Lord creates the necessary time to give facilities for
rajo-guṇa.
Similarly, He also creates the necessary times for maintenance and annihilation. Thus this verse establishes that the Lord is not under the limitations of time.
As stated in the
Brahma-saṁhitā, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ:
Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller.
Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ:
He possesses a blissful, spiritual body.
Anādiḥ:
He is not subordinate to anything. As the Lord confirms in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.7)
,
mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiṣcid asti dhanaṣjaya:
“O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no truth superior to Me.” Nothing can be above Kṛṣṇa, for He is the controller and creator of everything.
The Māyāvādī philosophers say that this material world is
mithyā,
false, and that one should therefore not bother about this
mithyā
creation (
brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā
). But this is not correct. Here it is said,
satya-kṛt:
whatever is created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
satyaṁ param,
cannot be called
mithyā.
The cause of the creation is
satya,
true, so how can the effect of the cause be
mithyā
? The very word
satya-kṛt
is used to establish that everything created by the Lord is factual, never false. The creation may be temporary, but it is not false.