Section  Thirty-seven
Lord Kåñëa is the Ultimate Cause 

          Lord Kåñëa then says, "But Brahmä, Viñëu, and Maheçvara are said to be the cause behind creation, maintenance, and dissolution respectively, and other incarnations appear during the maintenance period as well. Why do you say that I am the only cause behind these three states?

          Brahmä replies (S.B.10.14.19):

          To persons ignorant of Your actual transcendental position, You appear as part of the material world, manifesting Yourself by the expanison of Your inconceivable energy. Thus for the creation of the universe You appear as me (Brahmä), for its maintenance You appear as (Viñëu), and for its annihilation You appear as Trinetra (Çiva).

 

          The pronoun "You" is related with the verb (bhäçi), shine. In a senstence first the subject and its related verb is searched. The subject has to be in the second person on the strenght of the verb. Therefore, the word iva, "like", is not related to "you", but to the pronoun eña this.  The pronoun "You" means Lord Kåñëa's personal form because He is directly the Personality of Godhead; He is not one of the incarnations presiding over the modes of nature. If taken otherwise, the explanation will go contrary to the statement in the previous verse (10.14.18).           Therefore the meaning is this:"Unto those people who do not know Your real nature You seem to appear differently, according to the difference in manifestations by nfusing Your energy which is instrumental in activities such as creation into the inert pradhäna which acts as material cause in the form of mahat and so on. You do this through Your portions but You are the complete whole. How do I appear differently, the Lord asks?  Brahmä replies: In the matter of creation like I, Brahmä; during protection period You appear as Viñëu as if limited by Your work i.e. as if limited only to the work of protection; and in the end You appear to be limited to Çiva. Actually, it is You who exist in all three forms, but ignorant people see them as different from You. This is stated by Brahmä n the Second Canto (S.B.2.6.32):

          By His will, I create, Lord Çiva destroys, and He, in His eternal form as Puruña, maintains everything. He is the powerful controller of these three energies.

 

          Because Lord Viñëu is an expansion, and non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kåñëa as with Brahmä and Çiva, the word "like Viñëu" was not used.

 

PURPORT

          In the previous Section, in verse 10.14.18 Brahmä established that Lord Kåñëa is the non-dual Absolute Truth, the cause of all causes.  Hearing this Kåñëa raised an objection.  He said the work of creation, maintenance, and dissolution is performed by Brahmä , Viñëu, and Çiva respectively, and during Brahmä's day various avatäras appear, so why is only Kåñëa considered as the cause of everything (advya Brahmän)?

          The answer is found in Brahmä's next verse (S.B. 10.14.19).  he says that only ignorant people do not know that You appear in various foms to perform the act of creation, maintenance and dissolution. The Amarakoña dictionary states that padavé means "a path"(2.1.15), Therefore, tvat-padavé (your path) means the path of devotion because the Lord says He can only be known by bhakti (S.B. 11.14.21)

          Non-devotees cannot understand how the Lord is existing everywhere and in everything.  The Lord's energy, called mäyä, gives rise to duality, and therefore  ignorant people cannot see that Lord is ultimate cause behind everything.

          The Supreme Lord however, is never lost to His devotee, tasyähaà na praëasyämi (B.g. 6.30).  Sruti says that only the Lord exists--sarvaà naräyaëa eva bhavti, "All this is Näräyaëa" (Näräyaëa Uttara Täpani 3.1).The meaning is that one who does not recognize everything to be the Lord's energy will have an independent ego, desires for enjoyment, and thus will become bound by the modes of nature.  Thus Brahmä concludes that everything is the Lord's energy and that He is the cause of everything.  Anything that appears independent of Him is due to the influence of Mäyä.

          In the verse (10.14.19) the subject "You" (tvam) i sput in the second half while the verb which gives along with it is in the first half, bhäçé (You shine). "You" refers to Kåñëa because Brahmä is recitng the prayers directly to Lord Kåñëa. Therefore the indeclinable iva (like) is not to be used with "You" which will give the improper understanding that Kåñëa is personally the maintainer of the universe. Rather "iva" is used with eña "this" which refers to Viñëu. Because Viñëu is non-different from Kåñëa, the word Viñëu is not mentioned in the verse.

          Eña refers to an object which is in proximity to the speaker. By using this pronoun Brahmä is distinguishing Viñëu from himself and Rudra. Although Viñëu is counted among the Guëävatäras, he is not an empowered living entity. Therefore the Bhägavatam verse (2.6.32) uses the adjective triçaktidhåk or possessor of the three types of energies, only for Viñëu. Puruña-rüpeëa in this verse means Kåñëa's Viñëu expansion. In this verse, Brahmä spoke about the guëävatäras being manifestation of Kåñëa. Next he expresses about the various lélävatäras.