Srimad Bhagavatam – day 206
Swāyambhuva Manu continued, “Due to the Lord’s energy known as time, movement takes place within the three attributes of Nature (trigunas). They become imbalanced. At that point, due to the traits of goodness, passion and ignorance (sattva, rajas, tamas), divisions known as creation, sustenance and dissolution occur in the Lord’s energy. In this way, without actually getting involved in action, the Lord is creating this universe. Without being the destroyer, He is destroying.
Divine plays are beyond the understanding of the mind. The Supreme Lord who exists in the form of time is devoid of birth, transformation or death. By creating one living being from another, He becomes the creator. By getting animals killed through other fiery animals, which are personifications of death, He becomes the destroyer.
The Supreme Lord is a personification of time. He exists equally within all living beings. As time, He is the one who destroys the bodies of living entities. In this aspect of destruction, He remains neutral and does not differentiate between friends, relatives and enemies. This is the ultimate truth.
When the wind blows, dust particles fly along with it. Likewise individual beings, who do not enjoy independent existence, run behind the Supreme Lord who manifests as time. In other words, based on their individual destiny the living beings are trapped in these repeated cycle of births and deaths due to the influence of time.
The Supreme Lord is all-pervading. There is no question of His growing or shrinking. He is devoid of any transformation. He eternally remains in his own form. On the other hand, the individual being’s existence is based on his destiny. The Supreme Lord rewards the being based on his destiny. By awarding them with the bodies of Devatas and other celestials, He blesses them with very long life. By awarding them the bodies of bacteria and insects, He gives them a very short existence.
O Emperor! Philosophists belonging to the Karma-mimāmsaka School define this Lord as destiny (karma), Cārvakās address Him as inherent nature (swabhāva), Vaiśeṣikās as time (kāla), astrologers as the Lord who exists in the form of planets, while Vātsāyayana and others refer to Him as desire. Albeit differences in terminology, all of them accept His existence!
My son, as this Lord is devoid of traits He cannot be understood through any visible proofs or any other direct means of knowledge. All the various energies in this creation emerge from Him alone. Who in this creation can understand the intentions of that Lord from whom all energies manifest? There is none. How then can an individual being understand about the essence of that Supreme Lord from whom he has emerged?
Na caite putraka bhrātur hantāro dhanadānugāḥ
Visargādānayos tāta puṁso daivaṁ hi kāraṇam
My son, the truth is that these Yakshas, the followers of Kubera, are not responsible for your brother’s death. This is because only the Supreme Iśwara, who manifests as time, is responsible for the birth and death of every living entity.
Believing that these Yakshas killed your brother, you are destroying them. However only the Supreme Iśwara is creating, sustaining and destroying this entire universe. Yet He is totally devoid of the feeling ‘I am the doer’. For this reason, He is absolutely untouched by the attributes of goodness, passion and ignorance (sattva, rajas, tamas) or by the merits- demerits that arise from these actions.
Eṣa bhūtāni bhūtātmā bhūteśo bhūta-bhāvanaḥ
Sva-śaktyā māyayā yuktaḥ sṛjaty atti ca pāti ca
The Supreme Lord resides as the inner Self (atma) within every living being! He controls and rules over them. With the help of His illusory power He creates, sustains and thereafter absorbs these individual beings into Himself. This Supreme Lord is the sole refuge for this entire creation.
He exists outside as death, which is a form of time. Within the mind He exists as consciousness (chaitanya) and nectar. Therefore my dear son, please see Him as existing in all living beings. Seek shelter under Him. Stop all your thoughts and fix your mind totally upon Him.
Just as oxen are led by the nose which is tied with a rope or just as vassal kings pay tribute to the emperor even great Prajāpatis (leaders of the world) offer Him flowers and other materials. Being controlled by Him they diligently abide by His orders.
At the age of five, you were deeply hurt by the insulting words uttered by your step-mother. Leaving the comfort of your mother’s home you went into the deep forests and undertook intense austerities. Controlling your senses and becoming inward facing (antarmukha), you meditated upon the Supreme Lord Srihari. You obtained the position of the Pole star, which is beyond the three worlds.
Tam enam aṅgātmani mukta-vigrahe
Vyapāśritaṁ nirguṇam ekam akṣaram
Ātmānam anviccha vimuktam ātma-dṛg
Yasminn idaṁ bheda masat pratīyate
O Dhruva, Srihari is eternally liberated. He is the form of the Self. He makes himself visible only in that mind that is totally pure. He is devoid of traits. He is non-dual. Become inward-facing and search for that indestructible Lord within you. Simultaneously develop selfless love towards the Lord who is none other than the Self”.
Sridharāya namah.