SB 8.3.4 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

य: स्वात्मनीदं निजमाययार्पितं क्‍वचिद् विभातं क्‍व च तत् तिरोहितम् । अविद्धद‍ृक् साक्ष्युभयं तदीक्षते स आत्ममूलोऽवतु मां परात्पर: ॥ ४ ॥

Verse text

yaḥ svātmanīdaṁ nija-māyayārpitaṁ kvacid vibhātaṁ kva ca tat tirohitam aviddha-dṛk sākṣy ubhayaṁ tad īkṣate sa ātma-mūlo ’vatu māṁ parāt-paraḥ

Synonyms

yaḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead who ; sva — ātmani — in Him ; idam — this cosmic manifestation ; nija — māyayā — by His own potency ; arpitam — invested ; kvacit — sometimes, at the beginning of a kalpa ; vibhātam — it is manifested ; kva ca — sometimes, during dissolution ; tat — that (manifestation) ; tirohitam — not visible ; aviddha — dṛk — He sees everything (in all these circumstances) ; sākṣī — the witness ; ubhayam — both (manifestation and annihilation) ; tat īkṣate — sees everything, without loss of sight ; saḥ — that Supreme Personality of Godhead ; ātma — mūlaḥ — self-sufficient, having no other cause ; avatu — please give protection ; mām — unto me ; parāt — paraḥ — He is transcendental to transcendental, or above all transcendence .

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His own energy, keeps this cosmic manifestation visible and again sometimes renders it invisible. He is both the supreme cause and the supreme result, the observer and the witness, in all circumstances. Thus He is transcendental to everything. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By his will, by his māyā, this universe enters him, again appears and again is annihilated. As the constant witness of creation and destruction of the universe, he witnesses everything. He is his own cause. May the Lord who superior to all causes of revelation protect me! Since the universe made of cause and effect exists without beginning, the Lord is the supreme manifester of the universe. By his will being created again and again (nija-māyayā), the universe enters him, and at the beginning of a kalpa sometimes appears at, and at the end of the kalpa it disappears. With unfailing vision he sees the creation and destruction of the universe. He is his own cause (ātmā-mūlaḥ). This means he is self-revealing, or independent. He is superior to those things which reveal. Śruti says cakṣuṣaś cakṣur uta śrotrasya śrotram: he is the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear. (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.18)

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has multipotencies ( parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate ). Therefore, as soon as He likes, He uses one of His potencies, and by that expansion He creates this cosmic manifestation. Again, when the cosmic manifestation is annihilated, it rests in Him. Nonetheless, He is infallibly the supreme observer. Under any circumstances, the Supreme Lord is changeless. He is simply a witness and is aloof from all creation and annihilation.