Krishna Consciousness

The scheduled creations and annihilations take place in terms of the supreme will

Srimad Bhagavatam Divisions of the Creation                          

                                 TEXT 14

                     sargo nava-vidhas tasya
                     prakrto vaikrtas tu yah
                     kala-dravya-gunair asya
                    tri-vidhah pratisankramah

                             SYNONYMS

   sargah--creation; nava-vidhah--of nine different kinds; tasya--its; prakrtah--material; vaikrtah--by the modes of material nature; tu--but; yah--that which; kala--eternal time; dravya--matter; gunaih--qualities; asya--its; tri-vidhah--three kinds; pratisankramah--annihilation.

                           TRANSLATION

   There are nine different kinds of creations besides the one which naturally occurs due to the interactions of the modes. There are three kinds of annihilations due to eternal time, the material elements and the quality of one's work.

                             PURPORT

    The scheduled creations and annihilations take place in terms of the supreme will. There are other creations due to interactions of material elements which take place by the intelligence of Brahma. Later these will be more explicitly explained. At present, only preliminary information is given. The three kinds of annihilations are (1) due to the scheduled time of the annihilation of the entire universe, (2) due to a fire which emanates from the mouth of Ananta, and (3) due to one's qualitative actions and reactions.

The systematic activities of the time factor are perpetual and eternal and cannot be stated to be false

 Srimad Bhagavatam    Divisions of the Creation

                                TEXT 13

                      yathedanim tathagre ca
                      pascad apy etad idrsam

                             SYNONYMS

   yatha--as it is; idanim--at present; tatha--so it was; agre--in the beginning; ca--and; pascat--at the end; api--also; etat idrsam--it continues to be the same.

                           TRANSLATION

   This cosmic manifestation is as it is now, it was the same in the past, and it will continue in the same way in the future.

                             PURPORT

   There is a systematic schedule for the perpetual manifestation, maintenance and annihilation of the material world, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.8): bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam avasam prakrter vasat. As it is created now and as it will be destroyed later on, so also it existed in the past and again will be created, maintained and destroyed in due course of time. Therefore, the systematic activities of the time factor are perpetual and eternal and cannot be stated to be false. The manifestation is temporary and occasional, but it is not false as claimed by the Mayavadi philosophers.

This unmanifested world is the self-same Personality of Godhead

Srimad Bhagavatam    Divisions of the Creation   TEXT 12

                                   TEXT

                   visvam vai brahma-tan-matram
                     samsthitam visnu-mayaya
                      isvarena paricchinnam
                       kalenavyakta-murtina

                              SYNONYMS

   visvam--the material phenomenon; vai--certainly; brahma--the Supreme; tat-matram--the same as; samsthitam--situated; visnu-mayaya--by the energy of Visnu; isvarena--by the Personality of Godhead; paricchinnam--separated; kalena--by the eternal time; avyakta--unmanifested; murtina--by such a feature.

                           TRANSLATION

   This cosmic manifestation is separated from the Supreme Lord as material energy by means of kala, which is the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Lord. It is situated as the objective manifestation of the Lord under the influence of the same material energy of Visnu.

                             PURPORT

   As stated previously by Narada before Vyasadeva (Bhag. 1.5.20), idam hi visvam bhagavan ivetarah: this unmanifested world is the self-same Personality of Godhead, but it appears to be something else beyond or besides the Lord. It appears so because of its being separated from the Lord by means of kala(time). It is something like the tape-recorded voice of a person who is now separated from the voice. As the tape recording is situated on the tape, so the whole cosmic manifestation is situated on the material energy and appears separate by means of kala. The material manifestation is therefore the objective manifestation of the Supreme Lord and exhibits His impersonal feature so much adored by impersonalist philosophers.

Time is considered the impersonal feature of the Lord

  Srimad Bhagavatam     Divisions of the Creation      TEXT 11

                                  TEXT

                          maitreya uvaca
                        guna-vyatikarakaro
                     nirviseso 'pratisthitah
                       purusas tad-upadanam
                       atmanam lilayasrjat

                             SYNONYMS

   maitreyah uvaca--Maitreya said; guna-vyatikara--of the interactions of the modes of material nature; akarah--source; nirvisesah--without diversity; apratisthitah--unlimited; purusah--of the Supreme Person; tat--that; upadanam--instrument; atmanam--the material creation; lilaya--by pastimes; asrjat--created.

                           TRANSLATION

   Maitreya said: Eternal time is the primeval source of the interactions of the three modes of material nature. It is unchangeable and limitless, and it works as the instrument of the Supreme Personality of Godhead for His pastimes in the material creation.

                             PURPORT

   The impersonal time factor is the background of the material manifestation as the instrument of the Supreme Lord. It is the ingredient of assistance offered to material nature. No one knows where time began and where it ends, and it is time only which can keep a record of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material manifestation. This time factor is the material cause of creation and is therefore a self expansion of the Personality of Godhead. Time is considered the impersonal feature of the Lord.
   The time factor is also explained by modern men in various ways. Some accept it almost as it is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. For example, in Hebrew literature time is accepted, in the same spirit, as a representation of God. It is stated therein: "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets...." Metaphysically, time is distinguished as absolute and real. Absolute time is continuous and is unaffected by the speed or slowness of material things. Time is astronomically and mathematically calculated in relation to the speed, change and life of a particular object. Factually, however, time has nothing to do with the relativities of things; rather, everything is shaped and calculated in terms of the facility offered by time. Time is the basic measurement of the activity of our senses, by which we calculate past, present and future; but in factual calculation, time has no beginning and no end. Canakya Pandita says that even a slight fraction of time cannot be purchased with millions of dollars, and therefore even a moment of time lost without profit must be calculated as the greatest loss in life. Time is not subject to any form of psychology, nor are the moments objective realities in themselves, but they are dependent on particular experiences.
   Therefore, Srila Jiva Gosvami concludes that the time factor is intermixed with the activities--actions and reactions--of the external energy of the Lord. The external energy, or material nature, works under the superintendence of the time factor as the Lord Himself, and that is why material nature appears to have produced so many wonderful things in the cosmic manifestation. Bhagavad-gita (9.10) confirms this conclusion as follows:

                      mayadhyaksena prakrtih
                       suyate sa-caracaram
                       hetunanena kaunteya
                       jagad viparivartate

The controlling time has different dimensions in relation to particular physical embodiments

SB 3.10.10 P         Divisions of the Creation                             TEXT 10

                               TEXT

                           vidura uvaca
                      yathattha bahu-rupasya
                      harer adbhuta-karmanah
                    kalakhyam laksanam brahman
                     yatha varnaya nah prabho

                             SYNONYMS

   vidurah uvaca--Vidura said; yatha--as; attha--you have said; bahu-rupasya--having varieties of forms; hareh--of the Lord; adbhuta--wonderful; karmanah--of the actor; kala--time; akhyam--of the name; laksanam--symptoms; brahman--O learned brahmana; yatha--as it is; varnaya--please describe; nah--unto us; prabho--O lord.

                           TRANSLATION

   Vidura inquired from Maitreya: O my lord, O greatly learned sage, kindly describe eternal time, which is another form of the Supreme Lord, the wonderful actor. What are the symptoms of that eternal time? Please describe them to us in detail.

                             PURPORT

   The complete universe is a manifestation of varieties of entities, beginning from the atoms up to the gigantic universe itself, and all is under the control of the Supreme Lord in His form of kala, or eternal time. The controlling time has different dimensions in relation to particular physical embodiments. There is a time for atomic dissolution and a time for the universal dissolution. There is a time for the annihilation of the body of the human being, and there is a time for the annihilation of the universal body. Also, growth, development and resultant actions all depend on the time factor. Vidura wanted to know in detail the different physical manifestations and their times of annihilation.

This matter is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Bg 9.8 P          The Most Confidential Knowledge
                              TEXT 8

                               TEXT

                     prakrtim svam avastabhya
                       visrjami punah punah
                    bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam
                      avasam prakrter vasat

                             SYNONYMS

   prakrtim--material nature; svam--of My personal Self; avastabhya--enter in; visrjami--create; punah punah--again, again; bhuta-gramam--all these cosmic manifestations; imam--this; krtsnam--total; avasam--automatically; prakrteh--by the force of nature; vasat--under obligation.

                           TRANSLATION

   The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.

                             PURPORT

   This matter is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This has already been explained several times. At the creation, the material energy is let loose as the mahat-tattva, into which the Lord as His first Purusa incarnation, Maha-Visnu, enters. He lies within the Causal Ocean and breathes out innumerable universes, and into each universe the Lord again enters as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Each universe is in that way created. He still further manifests Himself as Ksirodakasayi Visnu, and that Visnu enters into everything--even into the minute atom. This fact is explained here. He enters into everything.
   Now, as far as the living entities are concerned, they are impregnated into this material nature, and as a result of their past deeds they take different positions. Thus the activities of this material world begin. The activities of the different species of living beings are begun from the very moment of the creation. It is not that all is evolved. The different species of life are created immediately along with the universe. Men, animals, beasts, birds--everything is simultaneously created, because whatever desires the living entities had at the last annihilation are again manifested. It is clearly stated here that the living entities have nothing to do with this process. The state of being in their past life in the past creation is simply manifested again, and all this is done simply by His will. This is the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of God. And after creating different species of life, He has no connection with them. The creation takes place to accommodate the inclinations of the various living entities, and so the Lord does not become involved with it.