FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.45

सोऽनन्तोऽन्तकर: कालोऽनादिरादिकृदव्यय: । जनं जनेन जनयन्मारयन्मृत्युनान्तकम् ॥ ४५ ॥
so ’nanto ’nta-karaḥ kālo
[so ’nanto ’nta-karah kaalo]
’nādir ādi-kṛd avyayaḥ
[’naadir aadi-krid avyayah]
janaṁ janena janayan
[janam janena janayan]
mārayan mṛtyunāntakam
[maarayan mrityunaantakam]
saḥ — that anantaḥ — endless anta-karaḥ — destroyer kālaḥ — time anādiḥ — without beginning ādi-kṛt — the creator avyayaḥ — not liable to change janam — persons janena — by persons janayan — creating mārayan — destroying mṛtyunā — by death antakam — the lord of death.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
so ’nanto ’nta-karaḥ kālo
saḥ
that
anantaḥ
endless
’nādir ādi-kṛd avyayaḥ
janaṁ janena janayan
anta-karaḥ
destroyer
mārayan mṛtyunāntakam
kālaḥ
time
anādiḥ
without beginning
ādi-kṛt
the creator
avyayaḥ
not liable to change
janam
persons
janena
by persons
janayan
creating
mārayan
destroying
mṛtyunā
by death
antakam
the lord of death.
The eternal time factor has no beginning and no end. It is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the maker of the criminal world. It brings about the end of the phenomenal world, it carries on the work of creation by bringing one individual into existence from another, and likewise it dissolves the universe by destroying even the lord of death, Yamarāja.

By the influence of eternal time, which is a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the father begets a son, and the father dies by the influence of cruel death. But by time’s influence, even the lord of cruel death is killed. In other words, all the demigods within the material world are temporary, like ourselves. Our lives last for one hundred years at the most, and similarly, although their lives may last for millions and billions of years, the demigods are not eternal. No one can live within this material world eternally. The phenomenal world is created, maintained and destroyed by the finger signal of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore a devotee does not desire anything in this material world. A devotee desires only to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This servitude exists eternally; the Lord exists eternally, His servitor exists eternally, and the service exists eternally.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Explanation of Devotional Service by Lord Kapila.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Unchangeable time, without beginning but causing everyone’s birth, creates population through mothers and fathers; and time, without end but causing everyone’s end, destroys those subject to death, by death. Time, creating population through people, mothers and fathers, is the creator (ādi-kṛt). Thus ends the commentary on Twenty-ninth Chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas. Chapter Thirty Kapila Describes the Person in Ignorance
Time is the Lord's instrument, quietly grinding every arrangement we trust. The verse asks us to befriend this fact now, before it forces itself on us at the wrong moment. Its centre of gravity is Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • What conversation have you been postponing as if time were unlimited?
  • How does time's grinding actually serve the soul, if you let it?
📝 My note

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