Devanagari
सङ्ख्यानं परमाणूनां कालेन क्रियते मया ।
न तथा मे विभूतीनां सृजतोऽण्डानि कोटिश: ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
saṅkhyānaṁ paramāṇūnāṁ
kālena kriyate mayā
na tathā me vibhūtīnāṁ
sṛjato ’ṇḍāni koṭiśaḥ
Synonyms
saṅkhyānam
—
counting
;
parama
—
aṇūnām — of the atoms
;
kālena
—
after some time
;
kriyate
—
is done
;
mayā
—
by Me
;
na
—
not
;
tathā
—
in the same way
;
me
—
of Me
;
vibhūtīnām
—
of the opulences
;
sṛjataḥ
—
who am creating
;
aṇḍāni
—
universes
;
koṭiśaḥ
—
by the innumerable millions .
Translation
Even though over a period of time I might count all the atoms of the universe, I could not count all of My opulences which I manifest within innumerable universes.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Even though over a period of time I might count all the atoms of the universe, I could not count all of my vibhūtis since I create millions of universes.
“Why do you speak generally and in summary? As you did previously, please speak by showing the best of a group or the key element in a relationship.” I could after a great deal of time count all the atoms of earth or other elements and tell you. But I cannot say this about my vibhūtis. Why? When one cannot count the universes which are created, how can one count the vibhūtis within the universes?
Purport
The Lord here explains that Uddhava should not expect a complete catalog of the Lord’s opulences, since even the Lord Himself finds no limit to such opulences. According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī,
kālena
indicates that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is within every atom and can therefore easily calculate the total number of atoms. However, although the Lord is certainly omniscient, even He Himself cannot supply a finite number for His opulences, because they are infinite.