कर्मणो जन्म महतः पुरुषाधिष्ठितादभूत् ॥२२॥
kÄlÄd guṇa-vyatikaraḥ
pariṇÄmaḥ svabhÄvataḥ
karmaṇo janma mahataḥ
puruá¹£Ädhiá¹£á¹hitÄd abhÅ«t
kÄlÄt - from eternal time; guṇa-vyatikaraḥ - transformation of the modes by reaction; pariṇÄmaḥ - transformation; svabhÄvataḥ - from the nature; karmaṇaḥ - of activities; janma - creation; mahataḥ - of the mahat-tattva; puruá¹£a-adhiá¹£á¹hitÄt - because of the puruá¹£a incarnation of the Lord; abhÅ«t - it took place.
After the incarnation of the first puruá¹£a [KÄraṇÄrṇavaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu], the mahat-tattva, or the principles of material creation, take place, and then time is manifested, and in course of time the three qualities appear. Nature means the three qualitative appearances. They transform into activities.
By the omnipotency of the Supreme Lord, the whole material creation evolves by the process of transformation and reactions one after another, and by the same omnipotency, they are wound up again one after another and conserved in the body of the Supreme. KÄla, or time, is the synonym of nature and is the transformed manifestation of the principles of material creation. As such, kÄla may be taken as the first cause of all creation, and by transformation of nature different activities of the material world become visible. These activities may be taken up as the natural instinct of each and every living being, or even of the inert objects, and after the manifestation of activities there are varieties of products and by-products of the same nature. Originally these are all due to the Supreme Lord. The VedÄnta-sÅ«tras and the BhÄgavatam thus begin with the Absolute Truth as the beginning of all creations (janmÄdy asya yataḥ).
