देवर्षितिर्यङ्नृषु नित्य एव ।
कृतावतारस्तनुभिः स्वमायया
कृत्वात्मसात्पाति युगे युगे च ॥२६॥
तमेव देवं वयमात्मदैवतं
परं प्रधानं पुरुषं विश्वमन्यम् ।
व्रजाम सर्वे शरणं शरण्यं
स्वानां स नो धास्यति शं महात्मा ॥२७॥
yo naḥ sapatnair bhṛśam ardyamÄnÄn
devarṣi-tiryaṅ-nṛṣu nitya eva
ká¹›tÄvatÄras tanubhiḥ sva-mÄyayÄ
ká¹›tvÄtmasÄt pÄti yuge yuge ca
tam eva devaá¹ vayam Ätma-daivataá¹
paraá¹ pradhÄnaá¹ puruá¹£aá¹ viÅ›vam anyam
vrajÄma sarve Å›araṇaá¹ Å›araṇyaá¹
svÄnÄá¹ sa no dhÄsyati Å›aá¹ mahÄtmÄ
yaḥ - He who; naḥ - us; sapatnaiḥ - by our enemies, the demons; bhṛśam - almost always; ardyamÄnÄn - being persecuted; deva - among the demigods; ṛṣi - the saintly persons; tiryak - the animals; nṛṣu - and men; nityaḥ - always; eva - certainly; ká¹›ta-avatÄraḥ - appearing as an incarnation; tanubhiḥ - with different forms; sva-mÄyayÄ - by His internal potency; ká¹›tvÄ ÄtmasÄt - considering very near and dear to Him; pÄti - protects; yuge yuge - in every millennium; ca - and; tam - Him; eva - indeed; devam - the Supreme Lord; vayam - all of us; Ätma-daivatam - the Lord of all living entities; param - transcendental; pradhÄnam - the original cause of the total material energy; puruá¹£am - the supreme enjoyer; viÅ›vam - whose energy constitutes this universe; anyam - separately situated; vrajÄma - we approach; sarve - all; Å›araṇam - shelter; Å›araṇyam - suitable as shelter; svÄnÄm - unto His own devotees; saḥ - He; naḥ - unto us; dhÄsyati - shall give; Å›am - good fortune; mahÄtmÄ - the Supersoul.
By His inconceivable internal potency, the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into various transcendental bodies as VÄmanadeva, the incarnation of strength among the demigods; ParaÅ›urÄma, the incarnation among saints; Ná¹›siá¹hadeva and VarÄha, incarnations among animals; and Matsya and KÅ«rma, incarnations among aquatics. He accepts various transcendental bodies among all types of living entities, and among human beings He especially appears as Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord RÄma. By His causeless mercy, He protects the demigods, who are always harassed by the demons. He is the supreme worshipable Deity of all living entities. He is the supreme cause, represented as the male and female creative energies. Although different from this universe, He exists in His universal form [virÄá¹-rÅ«pa]. In our fearful condition, let us take shelter of Him, for we are sure that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Soul, will give us His protection.
In this verse, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is ascertained to be the original cause of creation. ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ«, in his commentary BhÄvÄrtha-dÄ«pikÄ, replies to the idea that praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a are the causes of the cosmic manifestation. As stated herein, paraá¹ pradhÄnaá¹ puruá¹£aá¹ viÅ›vam anyam: “He is the supreme cause, represented as the male and female creative energies. Although different from this universe, He exists in His universal form [virÄá¹ rÅ«pa].†The word praká¹›ti, which is used to indicate the source of generation, refers to the material energy of the Supreme Lord, and the word puruá¹£a refers to the living entities, who are the superior energy of the Lord. Both the praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a ultimately enter the Supreme Lord, as stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (praká¹›tiá¹ yÄnti mÄmikÄm).
Although praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a superficially appear to be the causes of the material manifestation, both are emanations of different energies of the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the cause of praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a. He is the original cause (sarva-kÄraṇa-kÄraṇam). The NÄradÄ«ya PurÄṇa says:
avikÄro ’pi paramaḥ
praká¹›tis tu vikÄriṇī
anupraviśya govindaḥ
praká¹›tiÅ› cÄbhidhÄ«yate
Both the praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a, which are inferior and superior energies, are emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As explained in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (gÄm ÄviÅ›ya), the Lord enters the praká¹›ti, and then the praká¹›ti creates different manifestations. The praká¹›ti is not independent or beyond His energies. VÄsudeva, Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, is the original cause of everything. Therefore the Lord says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.8):
ahaá¹ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṠpravartate
iti matvÄ bhajante mÄá¹
budhÄ bhÄva-samanvitÄḥ
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.†In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (2.9.33) the Lord also says, aham evÄsam evÄgre: “Only I existed before the creation.†This is confirmed in the BrahmÄṇá¸a PurÄṇa as follows:
smá¹›tir avyavadhÄnena
prakṛtitvam iti sthitiḥ
ubhayÄtmaka-sÅ«titvÄd
vÄsudevaḥ paraḥ pumÄn
prakṛtiḥ puruṣaś ceti
śabdair eko ’bhidhīyate
To generate the universe, the Lord acts indirectly as the puruá¹£a and directly as the praká¹›ti. Because both energies emanate from Lord VÄsudeva, the all-pervasive Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is known as both praká¹›ti and puruá¹£a. Therefore VÄsudeva is the cause of everything (sarva-kÄraṇa-kÄraṇam).
