Devanagari
तदाहुरक्षरं ब्रह्म सर्वकारणकारणम् ।
विष्णोर्धाम परं साक्षात्पुरुषस्य महात्मन: ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
tad āhur akṣaraṁ brahma
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
viṣṇor dhāma paraṁ sākṣāt
puruṣasya mahātmanaḥ
Synonyms
tat
—
that
;
āhuḥ
—
is said
;
akṣaram
—
infallible
;
brahma
—
the supreme
;
sarva
—
kāraṇa — all causes
;
kāraṇam
—
the supreme cause
;
viṣṇoḥ dhāma
—
the spiritual abode of Viṣṇu
;
param
—
the supreme
;
sākṣāt
—
without doubt
;
puruṣasya
—
of the puruṣa incarnation
;
mahātmanaḥ
—
of the Mahā-Viṣṇu .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is therefore said to be the original cause of all causes. Thus the spiritual abode of Viṣṇu is eternal without a doubt, and it is also the abode of Mahā-Viṣṇu, the origin of all manifestations.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
That body of Mahāviṣṇu, the supreme soul, the puruṣa, is said to be the indestructible Brahman, the cause of all causes.
Visṇu means Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Dhāma means body since Amara-koṣa says gṛha-deha-tviṭ-prabhāvā dhāmani: dhāma means house, body, glory or power.
Thus ends the commentary on Eleventh Chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
Chapter Twelve
Brahmā’s Creations
Purport
Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is resting in
yoga-nidrā
on the Causal Ocean and creating innumerable universes by His breathing process, only temporarily appears in the
mahat-tattva
for the temporary manifestation of the material worlds. He is a plenary portion of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and thus although He is nondifferent from Lord Kṛṣṇa, His formal appearance in the material world as an incarnation is temporary. The original form of the Personality of Godhead is actually the
svarūpa,
or real form, and He eternally resides in the Vaikuṇṭha world (Viṣṇuloka). The word
mahātmanaḥ
is used here to indicate Mahā-Viṣṇu, and His real manifestation is Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is called
parama,
as confirmed in the
Brahma-saṁhitā:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
“The Supreme Lord is Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead, known as Govinda. His form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and He is the original cause of all causes.”
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Eleventh Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Calculation of Time, from the Atom.”