SB 4.17.33 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सर्गादि योऽस्यानुरुणद्धि शक्तिभि- र्द्रव्यक्रियाकारकचेतनात्मभि: । तस्मै समुन्नद्धनिरुद्धशक्तये नम: परस्मै पुरुषाय वेधसे ॥ ३३ ॥

Verse text

sargādi yo ’syānuruṇaddhi śaktibhir dravya-kriyā-kāraka-cetanātmabhiḥ tasmai samunnaddha-niruddha-śaktaye namaḥ parasmai puruṣāya vedhase

Synonyms

sarga — ādi — creation, maintenance and dissolution ; yaḥ — one who ; asya — of this material world ; anuruṇaddhi — causes ; śaktibhiḥ — by His own potencies ; dravya — physical elements ; kriyā — senses ; kāraka — controlling demigods ; cetanā — intelligence ; ātmabhiḥ — consisting of false ego ; tasmai — unto Him ; samunnaddha — manifest ; niruddha — potential ; śaktaye — one who possesses these energies ; namaḥ — obeisances ; parasmai — unto the transcendental ; puruṣāya — Supreme Personality of Godhead ; vedhase — unto the cause of all causes .

Translation

My dear Lord, by Your own potencies You are the original cause of the material elements, the performing instruments (the senses), the workers of the senses (the controlling demigods), the intelligence and the ego, as well as everything else. By Your energy You manifest this entire cosmic creation, maintain it and dissolve it. Through Your energy alone everything is sometimes manifest and sometimes not manifest. You are therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I offer respects the Supreme Lord, the creator, to you who carry out for the benefit of your devotees the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe by your energies of ahaṅkāra, intelligence, bodies, senses and sense devatās. I offer respects to you who possess great but mutually contrary energies. Therefore I offer respects to the possessor of inconceivable energy. He carries out creation with his energies composed of bodies, senses and devatās (dravya-kriyā-kāraka), intelligence (cetana) and ego (ātmabhiḥ) for the needs of his devotees (anuruṇaddhi). He has great (samunnaddha) and contrary (niruddha) energies. He has preserving and destroying energies, both of which are strong. You are the master who can maintain and destroy. According to your desire, do so. I offer respects to you.

Purport

All activities begin with the creation of the total energy, the mahat-tattva. Then, by the agitation of the three guṇas, the physical elements are created, as well as the mind, ego and the controllers of the senses. All of these are created one after another by the inconceivable energy of the Lord. In modern electronics, a mechanic may, by pushing only one button, set off an electronic chain reaction, by which so many actions are carried out one after another. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead pushes the button of creation, and different energies create the material elements and various controllers of the physical elements, and their subsequent interactions follow the inconceivable plan of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.