yo 'yaá¹ kÄlas tasya te 'vyakta-bandho
ceá¹£á¹Äm ÄhuÅ› ceá¹£á¹ate yena viÅ›vam
nimeá¹£Ädir vatsarÄnto mahÄ«yÄá¹s
taá¹ tveÅ›Änaá¹ ká¹£ema-dhÄma prapadye
yaḥ - that which; ayam - this; kÄlaḥ - time (minutes, hours, seconds); tasya - of Him; te - of You; avyakta-bandho - O my Lord, You are the inaugurator of the unmanifested (the original mahat-tattva or praká¹›ti); ceá¹£á¹Äm - attempt or pastimes; Ähuḥ - it is said; ceá¹£á¹ate - works; yena - by which; viÅ›vam - the entire creation; nimeá¹£a-Ädiḥ - beginning with minute parts of time; vatsara-antaḥ - up to the limit of a year; mahÄ«yÄn - powerful; tam - unto Your Lordship; tvÄ Ä«Å›Änam - unto You, the supreme controller; ká¹£ema-dhÄma - the reservoir of all auspiciousness; prapadye - I offer full surrender.
O inaugurator of the material energy, this wonderful creation works under the control of powerful time, which is divided into seconds, minutes, hours and years. This element of time, which extends for many millions of years, is but another form of Lord Viṣṇu. For Your pastimes, You act as the controller of time, but You are the reservoir of all good fortune. Let me offer my full surrender unto Your Lordship.
As stated in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.52):
yac-caká¹£ur eá¹£a savitÄ sakala-grahÄṇÄá¹
rÄjÄ samasta-sura-mÅ«rtir aÅ›eá¹£a-tejÄḥ
yasyÄjñayÄ bhramati saá¹bhá¹›ta-kÄla-cakro
govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi
“The sun is the king of all planetary systems and has unlimited potency in heat and light. I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, under whose control even the sun, which is considered to be the eye of the Lord, rotates within the fixed orbit of eternal time.†Although we see the cosmic manifestation as gigantic and wonderful, it is within the limitations of kÄla, the time factor. This time factor is also controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (mayÄdhyaká¹£eṇa praká¹›tiḥ sÅ«yate sa-carÄcaram). Praká¹›ti, the cosmic manifestation, is under the control of time. Indeed, everything is under the control of time, and time is controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Supreme Lord has no fear of the onslaughts of time. Time is estimated according to the movements of the sun (savitÄ). Every minute, every second, every day, every night, every month and every year of time can be calculated according to the sun’s movements. But the sun is not independent, for it is under time’s control. Bhramati saá¹bhá¹›ta-kÄla-cakraḥ: the sun moves within the kÄla-cakra, the orbit of time. The sun is under the control of time, and time is controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord has no fear of time.
The Lord is addressed here as avyakta-bandhu, or the inaugurator of the movements of the entire cosmic manifestation. Sometimes the cosmic manifestation is compared to a potter’s wheel. When a potter’s wheel is spinning, who has set it in motion? It is the potter, of course, although sometimes we can see only the motion of the wheel and cannot see the potter himself. Therefore the Lord, who is behind the motion of the cosmos, is called avyakta-bandhu. Everything is within the limits of time, but time moves under the direction of the Lord, who is therefore not within time’s limit.
