Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 16
Avadhūta’s Further Teachers: Detachment, Solitude, One-Pointed Meditation, and the Lord as Āśraya
एको नारायणो देव: पूर्वसृष्टं स्वमायया । संहृत्य कालकलया कल्पान्त इदमीश्वर: । एक एवाद्वितीयोऽभूदात्माधारोऽखिलाश्रय: ॥ १६ ॥
eko nārāyaṇo devaḥ pūrva-sṛṣṭaṁ sva-māyayā saṁhṛtya kāla-kalayā kalpānta idam īśvaraḥ eka evādvitīyo ’bhūd ātmādhāro ’khilāśrayaḥ
Hanya Nārāyaṇa satu-satunya Tuhan yang layak disembah oleh semua makhluk. Dengan māyā-Nya sendiri Dia mencipta alam semesta, dan pada akhir kalpa Dia memusnahkannya melalui perwujudan-Nya sebagai waktu, lalu menarik seluruh kosmos serta jiwa-jiwa terikat ke dalam diri-Nya. Maka Dia tetap berdiri sendirian, tunggal tanpa kedua, tempat bersandar segala sesuatu.
As will be explained in verse 21 of this chapter, the Lord’s independent creation and annihilation of the universe can be compared to the spider’s creating and withdrawing his web. The word eka, or “one alone,” is mentioned twice in this verse to emphasize that there is only one Supreme Personality of Godhead and that all universal affairs, as well as spiritual pastimes, are conducted by His potency alone. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, this verse refers to Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, or Mahā-Viṣṇu lying in the Causal Ocean. The words ātmādhāra and akhilāśraya both indicate that Nārāyaṇa is the reservoir or shelter of all existence. Ātmādhāra indicates that the Lord’s personal body is the shelter of everything. Mahā-Viṣṇu is a plenary portion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whose body expand the innumerable potencies that manifest the material and spiritual worlds. According to the Brahma-saṁhitā these innumerable worlds rest within the brahmajyoti, or spiritual effulgence, also emanating from the Lord’s body. Thus Kṛṣṇa is īśvara, the supreme controller.
FAQs
This verse states that at the end of the kalpa the Lord withdraws the manifested universe through time, and Nārāyaṇa alone remains—one without a second, the shelter of all.
To establish the Bhagavata conclusion that the Supreme Lord is the ultimate, independent reality—everything else is manifested and withdrawn by His potency, while He remains unchanged and supreme.
It trains one to rely on the eternal shelter—God—rather than temporary conditions, cultivating detachment from fleeting change and steadiness in bhakti.