eko nÄrÄyaṇo devaḥ
pÅ«rva-sṛṣá¹aá¹ sva-mÄyayÄ
saá¹há¹›tya kÄla-kalayÄ
kalpÄnta idam Ä«Å›varaḥ
eka evÄdvitÄ«yo 'bhÅ«d
ÄtmÄdhÄro 'khilÄÅ›rayaḥ
ekaḥ - alone; nÄrÄyaṇaḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; devaḥ - God; pÅ«rva - previously; sṛṣá¹am - created; sta-mÄyayÄ - by His own potency; saá¹há¹›tya - withdrawing within Himself; kÄla - of time; kalayÄ - by the portion; kalpa-ante - at the time of annihilation; idam - this universe; Ä«Å›varaḥ - the supreme controller; ekaḥ - alone; eva - indeed; advitÄ«yaḥ - without a second; abhÅ«t - became; Ätma-ÄdhÄraḥ - one whose self is the reservoir and resting place of everything; akhila - of all potencies; ÄÅ›rayaḥ - the reservoir.
The Lord of the universe, NÄrÄyaṇa, is the worshipable God of all living entities. Without extraneous assistance, the Lord creates this universe by His own potency, and at the time of annihilation the Lord destroys the universe through His personal expansion of time and withdraws all of the cosmos, including all the conditioned living entities, within Himself. Thus, His unlimited Self is the shelter and reservoir of all potencies. The subtle pradhÄna, the basis of all cosmic manifestation, is conserved within the Lord and is in this way not different from Him. In the aftermath of annihilation the Lord stands alone.
As will be explained in verse 21 of this chapter, the Lord’s independent creation and annihilation of the universe can be compared to the spider’s creating and withdrawing his web. The word eka, or “one alone,†is mentioned twice in this verse to emphasize that there is only one Supreme Personality of Godhead and that all universal affairs, as well as spiritual pastimes, are conducted by His potency alone. According to ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura, this verse refers to KÄraṇÄrṇavaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu, or MahÄ-Viṣṇu lying in the Causal Ocean. The words ÄtmÄdhÄra and akhilÄÅ›raya both indicate that NÄrÄyaṇa is the reservoir or shelter of all existence. Ä€tmÄdhÄra indicates that the Lord’s personal body is the shelter of everything. MahÄ-Viṣṇu is a plenary portion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whose body expand the innumerable potencies that manifest the material and spiritual worlds. According to the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ these innumerable worlds rest within the brahmajyoti, or spiritual effulgence, also emanating from the Lord’s body. Thus Kṛṣṇa is Ä«Å›vara, the supreme controller.
