SB 8.17.27 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

त्वमादिरन्तो भुवनस्य मध्य- मनन्तशक्तिं पुरुषं यमाहु: । कालो भवानाक्षिपतीश विश्वं स्रोतो यथान्त:पतितं गभीरम् ॥ २७ ॥

Verse text

tvam ādir anto bhuvanasya madhyam ananta-śaktiṁ puruṣaṁ yam āhuḥ kālo bhavān ākṣipatīśa viśvaṁ sroto yathāntaḥ patitaṁ gabhīram

Synonyms

tvam — Your Lordship ; ādiḥ — the original cause ; antaḥ — the cause of dissolution ; bhuvanasya — of the universe ; madhyam — maintenance of the present manifestation ; ananta — śaktim — the reservoir of unlimited potencies ; puruṣam — the Supreme Person ; yam — whom ; āhuḥ — they say ; kālaḥ — the principle of eternal time ; bhavān — Your Lordship ; ākṣipati — attracting ; īśa — the Supreme Lord ; viśvam — the whole universe ; srotaḥ — waves ; yathā — as ; antaḥ patitam — fallen within the water ; gabhīram — very deep .

Translation

O my Lord, You are the beginning, the manifestation and the ultimate dissolution of the three worlds, and You are celebrated in the Vedas as the reservoir of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Person. O my Lord, as waves attract branches and leaves that have fallen into deep water, You, the supreme eternal time factor, attract everything in this universe.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

You, whom they call the puruṣa of unlimited śakti, are the beginning, the middle and end of the universe. O Lord! In the form of time, you withdraw the universe, just as a deep flowing river carries away grass which falls within it. Just as the deep current of a river takes away object such as grass which fall in it, so you, as time, take away the universe.

Purport

The time factor is sometimes described as kāla-srota, waves of time. Everything in this material world is within the time factor and is being carried away by waves of attraction, which represent the Supreme Personality of Godhead.