Devanagari
य इच्छयेश: सृजतीदमव्ययो
य एव रक्षत्यवलुम्पते च य: ।
तस्याबला: क्रीडनमाहुरीशितु-
श्चराचरं निग्रहसङ्ग्रहे प्रभु: ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
ya icchayeśaḥ sṛjatīdam avyayo
ya eva rakṣaty avalumpate ca yaḥ
tasyābalāḥ krīḍanam āhur īśituś
carācaraṁ nigraha-saṅgrahe prabhuḥ
Synonyms
yaḥ
—
who
;
icchayā
—
by His will (without being forced by anyone)
;
īśaḥ
—
the supreme controller
;
sṛjati
—
creates
;
idam
—
this (material world)
;
avyayaḥ
—
remaining as He is (not having lost His own existence because of having created so many material manifestations)
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
eva
—
indeed
;
rakṣati
—
maintains
;
avalumpate
—
annihilates
;
ca
—
also
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
tasya
—
of Him
;
abalāḥ
—
O poor women
;
krīḍanam
—
the playing
;
āhuḥ
—
they say
;
īśituḥ
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
cara
—
acaram — moving and not moving
;
nigraha
—
in destruction
;
saṅgrahe
—
or in protection
;
prabhuḥ
—
fully able .
Translation
The boy addressed the women: O weak women! Only by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never diminished, is the entire world created, maintained and again annihilated. This is the verdict of the Vedic knowledge. This material creation, consisting of the moving and nonmoving, is exactly like His plaything. Being the Supreme Lord, He is completely competent to destroy and protect.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O women! They say that the world of moving and non-moving beings is simply the playing of the unchanging Lord who, by his will, creates, maintains and destroys this world. The Lord is capable of destroying and protecting.
“O child! The Lord protected you in the womb. Why did he not protect our husband during war?” The Lord acts by his will, not on the request of others. “Why does he desire independently?” He is the controller. Because he has supreme power, independent of all others, seeking a cause for his will would simply negate his position of supreme power. “Why does he carry out creation and destruction?” O women! It is only his play. The Lord is fully capable of destroying (nigrahe) and protecting (saṁgrahe).
Purport
In this regard the queens might argue, “If our husband was protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead when in the womb, why has he not been given protection now?” To this question the answer is,
ya icchayeśaḥ sṛjatīdam avyayo ya eva rakṣaty avalumpate ca yaḥ.
One cannot argue with the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is always free, and therefore He can protect and can also annihilate. He is not our order carrier; whatever He likes He will do. Therefore He is the Supreme Lord. The Lord does not create this material world at anyone’s request, and therefore He can annihilate everything merely by His will. That is His supremacy. If one argues, “Why does He act in this way?” the answer is that He can do so because He is supreme. No one can question His activities. If one argues, “What is the purpose of this sinful creation and annihilation?” the answer is that to prove His omnipotence He can do anything, and no one can question Him. If He were answerable to us concerning why He does something and why He does not, His supremacy would be curtailed.