Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.9.16
एको नारायणो देव: पूर्वसृष्टं स्वमायया ।
संहृत्य कालकलया कल्पान्त इदमीश्वर: ।
एक एवाद्वितीयोऽभूदात्माधारोऽखिलाश्रय: ॥ १६ ॥
eko nārāyaṇo devaḥ
[eko naaraayano devah]
pūrva-sṛṣṭaṁ sva-māyayā
[poorva-srishtam sva-maayayaa]
saṁhṛtya kāla-kalayā
[samhritya kaala-kalayaa]
kalpānta idam īśvaraḥ
[kalpaanta idam eeshvarah]
eka evādvitīyo ’bhūd
[eka evaadviteeyo ’bhood]
ātmādhāro ’khilāśrayaḥ
[aatmaadhaaro ’khilaashrayah]
Word-for-word
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.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
eko nārāyaṇo devaḥ
ekaḥ
alone
nārāyaṇaḥ
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
devaḥ
God
pūrva-sṛṣṭaṁ sva-māyayā
pūrva
previously
sṛṣṭam
created
sva-māyayā
by His own potency
saṁhṛtya kāla-kalayā
saṁhṛtya
withdrawing within Himself
kāla
of time
kalayā
by the portion
kalpānta idam īśvaraḥ
kalpa-ante
at the time of annihilation
idam
this universe
īśvaraḥ
the supreme controller
eka evādvitīyo ’bhūd
ekaḥ
alone
eva
indeed
advitīyaḥ
without a second
abhūt
became
ātmādhāro ’khilāśrayaḥ
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.
Purport
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.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
The one form of Viṣṇu withdrew the universe previously created by his māyā through his time śakti at the end of Brahmā’s life, and remained alone, the support of himself and shelter of all his śaktis.
He learned from the spider how the Lord carries out creation and destruction of the universe. This is explained in six and half verses. Kāraṇārṇava-śāyī Viṣṇu, alone, without assistance of anything except his own śaktis, withdraws the universe by his time śakti. He alone exists since nothing existed outside of the Lord. Nothing existed since the total universe and its parts were all destroyed. He is his own support (ātmādhāraḥ). He is the shelter of all śaktis.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Nārāyaṇa alone creates, withdraws, and shelters everything by His own potency — when all collapses, He still stands; rest your life on that one shelter.
Practical Applications
- Before starting work today, audibly acknowledge that Kṛṣṇa alone is īśvara and you are merely an instrument within His potency.
- When a plan or relationship dissolves, refuse to call it 'destruction' — recognize it as withdrawal back into the Lord who remains.
- Each night, mentally place the day — its gains, losses, and unfinished work — into ātmādhāra, the Lord's personal shelter, before sleeping.
Reflection Questions
- Which 'shelters' am I quietly leaning on — savings, status, health, people — as if they could stand when even the cosmos cannot?
- If Nārāyaṇa alone remains after annihilation, what in my daily life am I treating as more enduring than Him?
For Each Age Group
youth
- Before an exam or interview, instead of bracing on your own preparation alone, briefly offer the attempt to Kṛṣṇa as the actual īśvara of the result.
- When a friend group dissolves or a relationship ends, refuse the story that 'my world is over' — name it as a small withdrawal within the Lord who still shelters you.
- Cut one stretch of scrolling today and use those minutes to read or hear about Nārāyaṇa as akhilāśraya, so your sense of 'where I belong' is not set by the feed.
householder
- When making a financial or career decision this week, write it down and explicitly note: 'Kṛṣṇa is īśvara of this outcome; I am responsible only for right effort.'
- In a tense moment with spouse or child, pause and remember that the same Lord shelters them — and respond to the soul, not only to the bodily friction.
- Each weekend, review what you are treating as your family's true shelter (income, schools, insurance) and re-anchor the household in Nārāyaṇa through a shared reading or kīrtana.
senior
- As you loosen grip on roles and possessions, name each one aloud as something being 'withdrawn' back toward the Lord, not lost from you.
- Speak to a younger family member about Kṛṣṇa as ātmādhāra — give them, as legacy, the one shelter that will not dissolve with your body.
- When fear of death or decline arises, sit with the line 'in the aftermath of annihilation the Lord stands alone' and rest your remaining years on that fact.
Common Pitfalls
- Drifting into an impersonal reading — picturing a featureless Absolute 'remaining' rather than Nārāyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead.
- Demoting Kṛṣṇa to one shelter among many — adding Him to a portfolio of refuges instead of recognizing Him as akhilāśraya.
- Using the cosmic scale of the verse to bypass today's responsibilities, as if dissolution makes present sva-dharma optional.
Discussion Prompts
- Share one thing you currently treat as a 'permanent' shelter — where does it actually sit in the cycle of creation and withdrawal described here?
- The verse says eka twice — what changes in your sādhana when 'one alone' is taken as a personal Lord rather than an abstract unity?
- If pradhāna itself is conserved within the Lord and not different from Him, how should that reshape the way we relate to matter in our work and home?
Role Play
A friend has just lost a long-built business in a market collapse and tells you, "Everything I made is gone." Using SB 11.9.16, console them as a fellow practitioner — without spiritual bypassing and without flattening Nārāyaṇa into a generic 'higher power.'
Objections & Responses
- Talk of cosmic annihilation feels like mythology — why should a modern, working person organize their life around it?
The verse is not asking you to picture a cosmic event; it is asking you to notice that everything you depend on is already being created and withdrawn moment by moment. If even the universe rests in Nārāyaṇa, then ordering today's work around His shelter is the only realistic plan — every other foundation is on a timer. - If Nārāyaṇa alone remains and pradhāna is non-different from Him, isn't this just impersonal monism in Vaiṣṇava dress?
Read the verse with the purport: eka is said twice precisely to guard the personal. Pradhāna is conserved within the Lord's body, not merged into a featureless absolute. Mahā-Viṣṇu is a plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa — the 'oneness' here is the oneness of a Person who contains all potencies, not the erasure of personhood.
My note
Source: vedabase.io