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
- ekaḥ
- alone
- nārāyaṇaḥ
- the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- devaḥ
- God
- pūrva
- previously
- sṛṣṭam
- created
- sva-māyayā
- by His own potency
- saṁhṛtya
- withdrawing within Himself
- kāla
- of time
- kalayā
- by the portion
- kalpa-ante
- at the time of annihilation
- idam
- this universe
- īśvaraḥ
- the supreme controller
- ekaḥ
- alone
- eva
- indeed
- advitīyaḥ
- without a second
- abhūt
- became
- ātma-ādhāraḥ
- one whose self is the reservoir and resting place of everything
- akhila
- of all potencies
- āśrayaḥ
- the reservoir
The Lord of the universe, Nārāyaṇa, is the worshipable God of all living entities. Without extraneous assistance, the Lord creates this universe by His own potency, and at the time of annihilation the Lord destroys the universe through His personal expansion of time and withdraws all of the cosmos, including all the conditioned living entities, within Himself. Thus, His unlimited Self is the shelter and reservoir of all potencies. The subtle pradhāna, the basis of all cosmic manifestation, is conserved within the Lord and is in this way not different from Him. In the aftermath of annihilation the Lord stands alone.