Devanagari
त्वं ह्यस्य जन्मस्थितिसंयमान् विभो
गुणैरनीहोऽकृतकालशक्तिधृक् ।
तत्तत्स्वभावान् प्रतिबोधयन् सत:
समीक्षयामोघविहार ईहसे ॥ ४९ ॥
Verse text
tvaṁ hy asya janma-sthiti-saṁyamān vibho
guṇair anīho ’kṛta-kāla-śakti-dhṛk
tat-tat-svabhāvān pratibodhayan sataḥ
samīkṣayāmogha-vihāra īhase
Synonyms
tvam
—
You
;
hi
—
indeed
;
asya
—
of this universe
;
janma
—
sthiti — saṁyamān — the creation, maintenance and destruction
;
vibho
—
O almighty Lord
;
guṇaiḥ
—
by the modes of nature
;
anīhaḥ
—
although uninvolved in any material endeavor
;
akṛta
—
beginningless
;
kāla
—
śakti — of the potency of time
;
dhṛk
—
the holder
;
tat
—
tat — of each of the modes
;
sva
—
bhāvān — the distinctive characteristics
;
pratibodhayan
—
awakening
;
sataḥ
—
which are already present in their dormant state
;
samīkṣayā
—
by Your glance
;
amogha
—
vihāraḥ — whose playful activities are impeccable
;
īhase
—
You act .
Translation
O almighty Lord, although You have no reason to become involved in material activity, still You act through Your eternal potency of time to arrange for the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. You do this by awakening the distinct functions of each of the modes of nature, which before the creation lie dormant. Simply by Your glance You perfectly execute all these activities of cosmic control in a sporting mood.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O almighty Lord, although You have no reason to become involved in material activity, still You act through Your eternal potency of time to arrange for the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. You do this by awakening the distinct functions of each of the modes of nature, which before the creation lie dormant. Simply by Your glance You perfectly execute all these activities of cosmic control in a sporting mood.
KB 10.16.49
“Our dear Lord, in the matter of creating this cosmic manifestation, personally You have nothing to exert; by expanding Your different kinds of energy—namely the mode of passion, the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance—You create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation. As the controller of the entire time force, You simply glance over the material energy, thereby creating this universe and energizing the different modes of material nature, which act differently in different creatures. No one can estimate, therefore, how Your activities are going on within this world.
Purport
Sceptics may question why the Supreme Lord has created the material world, which is full of birth, maintenance and death. Here the Nāgapatnīs point out that the Lord’s pastimes are
amogha,
beyond any discrepancy. Śrī Kṛṣṇa actually desires that all conditioned souls live with Him in His eternal kingdom, but those forgetful souls who are inimical to their loving relationship with God must go to the material world and be subjected to the conditions of time. The fortunate conditioned souls are startled into remembrance of their actual position as loving servants of the Lord, and from within the heart the Lord then encourages them to come back home, back to Godhead, where time is conspicuous by its absence and where eternal, blissful existence supersedes the dramatic but disturbing functions of cosmic creation and annihilation.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"What is the purpose in creating this universe, giving it life and transformation?
By glancing upon the material of the universe after the end of the previous kalpa, you wake up the jivas resting in the pradhana to their previous nature, and then proceed with creation, maintenance and destruction through the gunas (rajas, sattva and tamas). Though you deal with the gunas, you are do not deal with them (anihah), you are without action. You are the controller of the time energy with its future moments. In this way your pastime of glancing on the pradhana is not in vain."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“What fault does he have? I, full of powers and gave him the snake body.” In five verses they answer. O lord of all beings (vibho)! You alone (hi) act without desire (anīhaḥ). “But that is contradictory.” You act with a glance at the time of creation (janma) to see the devotee (sataḥ) merged in prakṛti from a previous kalpa. You glance at prakṛti only to see him. You glance directly (sam)--to give complete mercy to him when he appears after the creation (sthiti). You act in order to look for opportunities to embrace him (saṁyamān). Padma Purāṇa says “I perform various actions in order to please my devotee.” You carry out creation, maintenance and destruction for the others incidentally. “But only those objects on which you glanced should awaken.” Your leisure actions are not useless. Nothing related to you is useless. In waking the conditioned jīvas, there is suitability. You possess natural (akṛta) power in the form of time. You awaken impressions of ancient karma (svabhāvān) marked by the guṇas. The jīvas’ faults arise from the actions they performed, not from what you did. The Lord is like the cloud, equal to all.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
“This offender should be punished.” Five verses answer. O supreme lord (vibho)! You certainly (hi) produce (īhase) creation, maintenance and destruction through the guṇas (gunaiḥ) but you are indifferent to it all (anīhaḥ). You do this by a glance (samīkṣayā) or with concern. As well you awaken the natures of beings who previously existed. Why do you glance? It is always for the purpose of your play (amogha-vihāra). Or no one can destroy your pastimes of awakening the natures of the living entities. Thus your acts are unfailing (amogha-vihāra), for you are the natural (akṛta) possessor of the śakti of time. Brahmā and others cannot avoid time.