Shloka 26
Hiraṇyakaśipu’s Austerities and Brahmā’s Boons
The Architecture of ‘Conditional Immortality’
श्रीहिरण्यकशिपुरुवाच कल्पान्ते कालसृष्टेन योऽन्धेन तमसावृतम् । अभिव्यनग्जगदिदं स्वयञ्ज्योति: स्वरोचिषा ॥ २६ ॥ आत्मना त्रिवृता चेदं सृजत्यवति लुम्पति । रज:सत्त्वतमोधाम्ने पराय महते नम: ॥ २७ ॥
śrī-hiraṇyakaśipur uvāca kalpānte kāla-sṛṣṭena yo ’ndhena tamasāvṛtam abhivyanag jagad idaṁ svayañjyotiḥ sva-rociṣā
শ্ৰীহিৰণ্যকশিপু ক’লে—কল্পান্তত কালে সৃষ্ট ঘোৰ অন্ধকাৰত যেতিয়া এই জগত আৱৃত হয়, তেতিয়া স্বয়ংজ্যোতি প্ৰভু নিজৰেই দীপ্তিৰে ইয়াক পুনৰ প্ৰকাশ কৰে।
The words abhivyanag jagad idam refer to he who creates this cosmic manifestation. The original creator is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa ( janmādy asya yataḥ ); Lord Brahmā is the secondary creator. When Lord Brahmā is empowered by Lord Kṛṣṇa as the engineer to create the phenomenal world, he becomes the supremely powerful feature within this universe. The total material energy is created by Kṛṣṇa, and later, taking advantage of all that has necessarily been created, Lord Brahmā engineers the entire phenomenal universe. At the end of Lord Brahmā’s day, everything up to Svargaloka is inundated with water, and the next morning, when there is darkness in the universe, Brahmā again brings the phenomenal manifestation into existence. Therefore he is described here as he who manifests this universe.
FAQs
This verse says that at the kalpa’s end the cosmos is covered by time-generated darkness, and the Supreme—self-effulgent—manifests the world again by His own radiance.
In Canto 7 Chapter 3, while seeking boons and power, Hiraṇyakaśipu offers praise acknowledging the cosmic supremacy of the Lord who controls creation and dissolution through time.
Time can cover everything with “darkness” (confusion and loss), so one should seek the inner light—God-consciousness—by grounding life in devotion, humility, and spiritual practice.