SB 10.59.29 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

त्वं वै सिसृक्षुरज उत्कटं प्रभो तमो निरोधाय बिभर्ष्यसंवृत: । स्थानाय सत्त्वं जगतो जगत्पते काल: प्रधानं पुरुषो भवान् पर: ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

tvaṁ vai sisṛkṣur aja utkaṭaṁ prabho tamo nirodhāya bibharṣy asaṁvṛtaḥ sthānāya sattvaṁ jagato jagat-pate kālaḥ pradhānaṁ puruṣo bhavān paraḥ

Synonyms

tvam — You ; vai — indeed ; sisṛkṣuḥ — desiring to create ; ajaḥ — unborn ; utkaṭam — prominent ; prabho — O master ; tamaḥ — the mode of ignorance ; nirodhāya — for annihilation ; bibharṣi — You assume ; asaṁvṛtaḥ — uncovered ; sthānāya — for maintenance ; sattvam — the mode of goodness ; jagataḥ — of the universe ; jagat — pate — O Lord of the universe ; kālaḥ — time ; pradhānam — material nature (in its original, undifferentiated state) ; puruṣaḥ — the creator (who interacts with material nature) ; bhavān — You ; paraḥ — distinct .

Translation

Desiring to create, O unborn master, You increase and then assume the mode of passion. You do likewise with the mode of ignorance when You wish to annihilate the universe and with goodness when You wish to maintain it. Nonetheless, You remain uncovered by these modes. You are time, the pradhāna, and the puruṣa, O Lord of the universe, yet still You are separate and distinct.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Desiring to create, O unborn master, You increase and then assume the mode of passion. You do likewise with the mode of ignorance when You wish to annihilate the universe and with goodness when You wish to maintain it. Nonetheless, You remain uncovered by these modes. You are time, the pradhāna, and the puruṣa, O Lord of the universe, yet still You are separate and distinct. KB 10.59.29 “My dear Lord, as for the three gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, they are not independent of You. When there is a necessity of creating this cosmic manifestation, You create Your passionate appearance of Brahmā, and when You want to maintain this cosmic manifestation You expand Yourself as Lord Viṣṇu, the reservoir of all goodness. Similarly, You appear as Lord Śiva, master of the mode of ignorance, and thus dissolve the whole creation. You always maintain Your transcendental position, in spite of creating these three modes of material nature. You are never entangled in these modes of nature, as the ordinary living entities are. “Actually, my Lord, You are the material nature, You are the father of the universe, and You are eternal time, which has caused the combination of the elements of nature and the manifestation of the material creation. Still, You are always transcendental to all these material activities.

Purport

The word jagataḥ in the third line of this verse indicates that the functions of creation, maintenance and annihilation are here mentioned in a cosmic context. The word utkaṭam indicates that when a particular function is being carried out, whether universal creation, maintenance or annihilation, the particular material quality associated with that function becomes predominant.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

According to the time, you carry out creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe through your maya sakti. You contain the activated raja, tama and sattva gunas, but are not covered by them like the jivas. Time, maya and the jivas are all eternal and are yourself, being your energies, but you are different from all these energies by your svarupa sakti (parah).

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

You alone (vai) accept rajoguṇa (utkaṭam) since creation cannot take place with equilibrium. O lord, you are capable of creating this variegated universe (prabho). By your nature you protect the universe (jagat-pate). You are not covered by the actions of creation, maintenance and destruction. Or though you accept ignorance for destruction, you are not covered by it.