Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.49
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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anīhaḥ
—
without endeavor
Same root as nirīha (verse 19). Bhagavān is anīha — He does not strive. His actions are not driven by need. Gauḍīya: this is precisely the freedom of līlā as opposed to karma.
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kāla - śakti - dhṛk
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the wielder of the potency of time
Compound: kāla (time) + śakti (potency) + dhṛk (bearer). Time is His tool, not His master. He uses kāla-śakti without being conditioned by it.
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amogha - vihāraḥ
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(He whose) play is never fruitless
Compound: amogha (never failing) + vihāra (play). The signature Gauḍīya phrase for Bhagavān's līlā: it never misses its target. Even this serpent in this lake is on purpose.
Sceptics may question why the Supreme Lord has created the material world, which is full of birth, maintenance and death. Here the Nāgapatnīs point out that the Lord’s pastimes are amogha, beyond any discrepancy. Śrī Kṛṣṇa actually desires that all conditioned souls live with Him in His eternal kingdom, but those forgetful souls who are inimical to their loving relationship with God must go to the material world and be subjected to the conditions of time. The fortunate conditioned souls are startled into remembrance of their actual position as loving servants of the Lord, and from within the heart the Lord then encourages them to come back home, back to Godhead, where time is conspicuous by its absence and where eternal, blissful existence supersedes the dramatic but disturbing functions of cosmic creation and annihilation.
"What is the purpose in creating this universe, giving it life and transformation? By glancing upon the material of the universe after the end of the previous kalpa, you wake up the jivas resting in the pradhana to their previous nature, and then proceed with creation, maintenance and destruction through the gunas (rajas, sattva and tamas). Though you deal with the gunas, you are do not deal with them (anihah), you are without action. You are the controller of the time energy with its future moments. In this way your pastime of glancing on the pradhana is not in vain."
“What fault does he have? I, full of powers and gave him the snake body.” In five verses they answer. O lord of all beings (vibho)! You alone (hi) act without desire (anīhaḥ). “But that is contradictory.” You act with a glance at the time of creation (janma) to see the devotee (sataḥ) merged in prakṛti from a previous kalpa. You glance at prakṛti only to see him. You glance directly (sam)--to give complete mercy to him when he appears after the creation (sthiti). You act in order to look for opportunities to embrace him (saṁyamān). Padma Purāṇa says “I perform various actions in order to please my devotee.” You carry out creation, maintenance and destruction for the others incidentally. “But only those objects on which you glanced should awaken.” Your leisure actions are not useless. Nothing related to you is useless. In waking the conditioned jīvas, there is suitability. You possess natural (akṛta) power in the form of time. You awaken impressions of ancient karma (svabhāvān) marked by the guṇas. The jīvas’ faults arise from the actions they performed, not from what you did. The Lord is like the cloud, equal to all.
“This offender should be punished.” Five verses answer. O supreme lord (vibho)! You certainly (hi) produce (īhase) creation, maintenance and destruction through the guṇas (gunaiḥ) but you are indifferent to it all (anīhaḥ). You do this by a glance (samīkṣayā) or with concern. As well you awaken the natures of beings who previously existed. Why do you glance? It is always for the purpose of your play (amogha-vihāra). Or no one can destroy your pastimes of awakening the natures of the living entities. Thus your acts are unfailing (amogha-vihāra), for you are the natural (akṛta) possessor of the śakti of time. Brahmā and others cannot avoid time.
- Where am I treating my work as labor when even the Lord runs creation as sport?
- What lightness in His example might I borrow for my next task?
Though You have no reason to act in matter, You act through Your eternal time-potency to create, maintain and destroy. You wake up each guṇa's distinct function. The wives identify the strange fact: Bhagavān has no need to engage with prakṛti, yet engages — and the only adequate description is amogha-vihāra, never-fruitless play.
My note
Source: vedabase.io