Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 11
Brahmā’s Secondary Creation, Kāla (Eternal Time), and the Taxonomy of Species
मैत्रेय उवाच गुणव्यतिकराकारो निर्विशेषोऽप्रतिष्ठित: । पुरुषस्तदुपादानमात्मानं लीलयासृजत् ॥ ११ ॥
maitreya uvāca guṇa-vyatikarākāro nirviśeṣo ’pratiṣṭhitaḥ puruṣas tad-upādānam ātmānaṁ līlayāsṛjat
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.
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.
FAQs
This verse says the pre-creation condition was an indistinct, unsupported state arising from the intermixture of the three guṇas, before distinct forms and order became manifest.
Because the Supreme Person manifests the cosmos from Himself effortlessly and freely—creation is not forced by need, but proceeds from His independent, playful will.
Recognize how mixed modes influence perception and behavior, and cultivate sattva (clarity, goodness) through devotion, discipline, and remembrance of the Supreme Person who stands beyond the guṇas.