sá¹›jÄmi tan-niyukto 'haá¹
haro harati tad-vaśaḥ
viśvaṠpuruṣa-rūpeṇa
paripÄti tri-Å›akti-dhá¹›k
sá¹›jÄmi - create; tat-niyuktaḥ - engaged by Him; aham - I; haraḥ - Lord Åšiva; harati - annihilates; tat-vaÅ›aḥ - under His control; viÅ›vam - the whole universe; puruá¹£a-rÅ«peṇa - in the form of Lord Viṣṇu; paripÄti - maintains; tri-Å›akti-dhá¹›k - the controller of the three modes of material nature.
“[Lord BrahmÄ said:] ‘I am engaged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to create. Following His orders, Lord Åšiva dissolves everything. The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of KṣīrodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu maintains all the affairs of material nature. Thus the supreme controller of the three modes of material nature is Lord Viṣṇu.’
This is a quotation from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (2.6.32). Lord BrahmÄ gave this information to Devará¹£i NÄrada when he was receiving instructions from Lord BrahmÄ to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ParamÄtmÄ. After describing the universal form of the Lord, Lord BrahmÄ explained that his position and Lord Åšiva’s position are controlled by Lord Viṣṇu.
