Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.71.8
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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nimittam
—
instrument, occasional cause
Brahmā and Śiva are nimitta, not upādāna — they wield the tools, but Kṛṣṇa supplies and is the substance. Gauḍīya acintya-bhedābheda preserves the demigods' real agency while denying their independence.
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īśasya
—
of the Supreme Lord
Singular — there is one Īśa, and the council knows His name. Even as Brahmā and Śiva are praised, the genitive places them under Kṛṣṇa's possession.
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kālasya
—
of time
Time is Kṛṣṇa's invisible (arūpiṇa) feature. The same kāla announces itself in Bg 11.32 (kālo 'smi); here it is gentler — the silent mover behind creation and dissolution.
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arūpiṇaḥ
—
formless
Kṛṣṇa's kāla-aspect is formless, but Kṛṣṇa Himself is supremely personal. Gauḍīyas read this carefully: nirviśeṣa is one feature of the saviśeṣa Lord, never the whole.
Uddhava here explains that in fact Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself will cause the death of Jarāsandha, and Bhīma will merely be the instrument. The Supreme Lord, through His invisible potency of time, creates and annihilates the entire cosmic situation, whereas great demigods such as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are merely the instruments of the Lord’s will. Therefore Bhīma will have no difficulty acting as the Lord’s instrument to kill the powerful Jarāsandha. In this way, by the Lord’s arrangement, His devotee Bhīma will be glorified.
"If I do not do anything why should I be present?" "Brahma and Siva are but your instruments in creation and destruction through the energy of invisible time. Just as time alone creates and destroys the universe with Brahma acting as an instrument in creation and Siva as an instrument in destruction, so you will kill Jarasandha by your presence, and Bhima will be the instrument. Just as you do this for the glorification of Brahma and Siva, so you will act in this way for the fame of Bhima."
Your form as time is the instrument for creation and destruction. It is without form. Though it does everything its actions are unseen. Such power is proper since it belongs to you, the Lord (īśasya). Just as you perform the actions of creation and destruction invisibly to give fame to Brahmā and Śiva, so you should arrange this invisibly to give fame to Bhīma.
Because you are time, you are said to be invisiable (arūpiṇaḥ). Time is the main cause of creation and destruction of the universe. Actually, it is created and destroyed by you. One can understand it because it is invisible. That is suitable because you are the Lord (īśasya). Just as creation and destruction are done by you to give glory to Brahmā and Śiva, so the killing will be done by you to give fame to Bhīma.
Brahmā and Śiva carrying out creation and dissolution are like two lamps lit by a single hidden fire — they shine and consume, but the flame that fuels them is Kṛṣṇa's invisible kāla.
In SB 10.13, Lord Brahmā steals Kṛṣṇa's calves and cowherd boys to test Him, only to find that Kṛṣṇa has already become each of them. Brahmā folds, offering the famous prayers of 10.14, acknowledging himself as a tiny instrument of the Vraja-cowherd boy.
This verse's claim that even Hiraṇyagarbha is nimittam param īśasya is dramatized there: the creator of the universe is reduced to a confused child before the very Kṛṣṇa whom Uddhava is now praising in Dvārakā's council.
My note
Source: vedabase.io