ya idaá¹ lÄ«layÄ viÅ›vaá¹
sá¹›jaty avati hanti ca
ceá¹£á¹Äá¹ viÅ›va-sá¹›jo yasya
na vidur mohitÄjayÄ
yaḥ - who; idam - this; lÄ«layÄ - as play; viÅ›vam - universe; sá¹›jati - creates; avati - maintains; hanti - destroys; ca - and; ceá¹£á¹Äm - purpose; viÅ›va-sá¹›jaḥ - the (secondary) creators of the universe (headed by Lord BrahmÄ); yasya - whose; na viduḥ - do not know; mohitÄḥ - bewildered; ajayÄ - by His eternal deluding potency.
“It is the Supreme Lord who creates, maintains and destroys this universe simply as His pastime. The cosmic creators cannot even understand His purpose, bewildered as they are by His illusory MÄyÄ.
The use of the singular yaḥ, “He who,†indicates that the frequent references to “the two Lords, Kṛṣṇa and RÄma,†do not compromise the firm principle of monotheism expressed in the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. As explained in many Vedic literatures, the one Supreme Lord expands Himself into innumerable forms, yet He remains the one and almighty God. For example, we have this statement in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.33): advaitam acyutam anÄdir ananta-rÅ«pam. “The one Supreme Lord is infallible and beginningless, and He expands Himself into innumerable manifest forms.†Out of regard for the spirit of the Lord’s pastimes, in which He expands Himself and appears as His own older brother, BalarÄma, the BhÄgavatam here refers to “the two Lords.†But the “bottom line†is that there is one Supreme Godhead, one Absolute Truth, who appears in His original form as Kṛṣṇa.
