SB 11.6.15 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अस्यासि हेतुरुदयस्थितिसंयमाना- मव्यक्तजीवमहतामपि कालमाहु: । सोऽयं त्रिणाभिरखिलापचये प्रवृत्त: कालो गभीररय उत्तमपूरुषस्त्वम् ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

asyāsi hetur udaya-sthiti-saṁyamānām avyakta-jīva-mahatām api kālam āhuḥ so ’yaṁ tri-ṇābhir akhilāpacaye pravṛttaḥ kālo gabhīra-raya uttama-pūruṣas tvam

Synonyms

asya — of this (universe) ; asi — You are ; hetuḥ — the cause ; udaya — of the creation ; sthiti — maintenance ; saṁyamānām — and annihilation ; avyakta — of the unmanifest material nature ; jīva — the individual living beings ; mahatām — and of the mahat-tattva, with the manifest elements evolved from it ; api — also ; kālam — the controlling time factor ; āhuḥ — You are said to be ; saḥ ayam — this same personality ; tri — ṇābhiḥ — appearing as a wheel with circumference divided into three parts (the year divided into four-month seasons) ; akhila — of everything ; apacaye — in effecting the diminution ; pravṛttaḥ — engaged ; kālaḥ — the time factor ; gabhīra — imperceptible ; rayaḥ — the movement of which ; uttama — pūruṣaḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; tvam — You are .

Translation

You are the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. As time, You regulate the subtle and manifest states of material nature and control every living being. As the threefold wheel of time You diminish all things by Your imperceptible actions, and thus You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

You are the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. They say that you are the controller of prakṛti, jīva and the elements such as mahat-tattva. You are the year made of three parts, moving imperceptibly, causing destruction of all things. You are the Supreme Lord. This verse explains the Supreme Lord mentioned in the previous verse. You are the cause of creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. They say that you are the controller (kālam) of the cause called prakṛti (avyakta), which is the covering; the cause of the jīva who is covered by prakṛti; the cause of the elements such as mahat-tattva, which are coverings made of the products of prakṛti. You are also the year having three naves of four months, with imperceptible movement (rayaḥ). You are supreme because you are superior to the effects, the cause and the jīva. Gītā says: yasmāt kṣaram atīto ’ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ | ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ || Because I am superior to the jīvas, to the Brahman and to the puruṣa known as Paramātmā, and even to the other forms of Bhagavān, I am celebrated in the Vedas and the smṛtis, as the Supreme Person. BG 15.18

Purport

The word gabhīra-rayaḥ, or “imperceptible speed and power,” is significant. We observe that by the laws of nature all material things, including our own bodies, gradually disintegrate. Although we can perceive the long-term results of this aging process, we cannot experience the process itself. For example, no one can feel how his hair or fingernails are growing. We perceive the cumulative result of their growth, but from moment to moment we cannot experience it. Similarly, a house gradually decays until it is demolished. From moment to moment we cannot perceive exactly how this is happening, but in the course of longer intervals of time we can actually see the deterioration of the house. In other words, we can experience the results or manifestations of aging and deterioration, but as it is taking place the process itself is imperceptible. This is the wonderful potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of time. The word tri-ṇābhiḥ indicates that according to astrological calculation of the sun’s movements, the year can be divided into three sections: those represented by Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer; Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio; and Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. The word uttama-pūruṣa, or puruṣottama, is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (15.18) : yasmāt kṣaram atīto ’ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ “Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.”