anīha etad bahudhaika ātmanā
sṛjaty avaty atti na badhyate yathā
bhaumair hi bhūmir bahu-nāma-rūpiṇī
aho vibhūmnaś caritaḿ viḍambanam
anihah -- exerting no endeavor; etat -- this (universe); bahudha -- manifold; ekah -- alone; atmana -- by Himself; srijati -- He creates; avati -- maintains; atti -- annihilates; na badhyate -- is not bound up; yatha -- as; bhaumaih -- by the transformations of earth; hi -- indeed; bhumih -- earth; bahu -- many; nama-rupini -- having names and forms; aho -- ah; vibhumnah -- of the almighty Lord; caritam -- the activities; vidambanam -- a pretense.
Indeed, the humanlike pastimes of the Almighty are simply a pretense! Effortlessly, He alone sends forth from His Self this variegated creation, maintains it and then swallows it up again, all without becoming entangled, just as the element earth takes on many names and forms in its various transformations.
The one Supreme expands Himself as many without diminishing His completeness. He does this effortlessly, without depending on anyone or anything else. This mystic process of the Lord's self-expansion is incomprehensible to all but Himself, but the example of the substance earth and its manifold products bears enough resemblance to provide some idea. The same example is also presented in an often-cited passage of the Chandogya Upanishad (6.1), vacarambhanam vikaro namadheyam mrittikety eva satyam: "Earth's transformations are merely verbal creations of the process of naming; the substance earth itself is alone real."
Srila Sridhara Svami suggests that this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam answers a possible objection on the part of Lord Krishna: "How can I create, maintain and destroy the universe if I am Vasudeva's son?" The answer is given by the words aho vibhumnas caritam vidambanam: "You are the perfectly complete whole, and Your birth and pastimes are only an imitation of ordinary persons' activities in the material world. You simply pretend to be under higher control."
