Shloka 12
Transmission of Bhāgavata Wisdom and Brahmā’s Vision of the Supreme Lord on Ananta
चतुर्युगानां च सहस्रमप्सु स्वपन् स्वयोदीरितया स्वशक्त्या । कालाख्ययासादितकर्मतन्त्रो लोकानपीतान्ददृशे स्वदेहे ॥ १२ ॥
catur-yugānāṁ ca sahasram apsu svapan svayodīritayā sva-śaktyā kālākhyayāsādita-karma-tantro lokān apītān dadṛśe sva-dehe
Le Seigneur demeura étendu, comme endormi dans les eaux, durant mille cycles des quatre yugas, porté par sa puissance interne qu’il éveillait lui-même. Lorsque, sous l’impulsion de l’énergie nommée kāla-śakti, les êtres revinrent pour poursuivre la trame de leurs actes, il contempla son corps transcendant d’une teinte bleuâtre.
In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, kāla-śakti is mentioned as avidyā. The symptom of the influence of the kāla-śakti is that one has to work in the material world for fruitive results. The fruitive workers are described in Bhagavad-gītā as mūḍhas, or foolish. Such foolish living entities are very enthusiastic to work for some temporary benefit within perpetual bondage. One thinks himself very clever throughout his life if he is able to leave behind him a great asset of wealth for his children, and to achieve this temporary benefit he takes the risk of all sinful activities, without knowledge that such activities will keep him perpetually bound by the shackles of material bondage. Due to this polluted mentality and due to material sins, the aggregate combination of living entities appeared to be bluish. Such an impetus of activity for fruitive result is made possible by the dictation of the external energy of the Lord, kāla.
FAQs
This verse explains that the Lord lies in the cosmic waters for a thousand catur-yugas, and at the time of creation He awakens by His own internal potency and beholds the worlds within Himself.
Here kāla is described as the agency through which the dormant system of material activity is set in motion—time acts under the Lord, not independently.
It cultivates surrender and steadiness: everything exists under the Lord’s shelter, so a devotee learns to trust divine order even amid change, loss, and uncertainty.