Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 39
Puruṣa-sūkta Logic of the Virāṭ: Cosmic Anatomy, Sacrifice, and the Lord’s Transcendence
स एष आद्य: पुरुष: कल्पे कल्पे सृजत्यज: । आत्मात्मन्यात्मनात्मानं स संयच्छति पाति च ॥ ३९ ॥
sa eṣa ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ kalpe kalpe sṛjaty ajaḥ ātmātmany ātmanātmānaṁ sa saṁyacchati pāti ca
That supreme original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, expanding His plenary portion as Mahā-Viṣṇu, the first incarnation, creates this manifested cosmos, but He is unborn. The creation, however, takes place in Him, and the material substance and manifestations are all Himself. He maintains them for some time and absorbs them into Himself again.
The creation is nondifferent from the Lord, and still He is not in the creation. This is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.4) as follows:
FAQs
This verse says the unborn original Puruṣa repeatedly creates in each kalpa and later withdraws all beings back into Himself, while also maintaining and protecting them.
Śukadeva is establishing the Supreme Lord’s absolute sovereignty—He is the source of creation, the power of maintenance, and the agent of dissolution—so Parīkṣit can fix his mind on the Lord beyond fear and death.
Remembering that the Lord sustains and regulates all cycles helps reduce anxiety and increases surrender: do your duty responsibly, but rely on the Supreme Maintainer for outcomes.