Texts 26-27
yo naḥ sapatnair bhṛśam ardyamānān
devarṣi-tiryaṅ-nṛṣu nitya eva
kṛtāvatāras tanubhiḥ sva-māyayā
kṛtvātmasāt pāti yuge yuge ca
tam eva devaṁ vayam ātma-daivataṁ
paraṁ pradhānaṁ puruṣaṁ viśvam anyam
vrajāma sarve śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
svānāṁ sa no dhāsyati śaṁ mahātmā
yaḥ — He who; naḥ — us; sapatnaiḥ — by our enemies, the demons; bhṛśam — almost always; ardyamānān — being persecuted; deva — among the demigods; ṛṣi — the saintly persons; tiryak — the animals; nṛṣu — and men; nityaḥ — always; eva — certainly; kṛta-avatāraḥ — appearing as an incarnation; tanubhiḥ — with different forms; sva-māyayā — by His internal potency; kṛtvā ātmasāt — considering very near and dear to Him; pāti — protects; yuge yuge — in every millennium; ca — and; tam — Him; eva — indeed; devam — the Supreme Lord; vayam — all of us; ātma-daivatam — the Lord of all living entities; param — transcendental; pradhānam — the original cause of the total material energy; puruṣam — the supreme enjoyer; viśvam — whose energy constitutes this universe; anyam — separately situated; vrajāma — we approach; sarve — all; śaraṇam — shelter; śaraṇyam — suitable as shelter; svānām — unto His own devotees; saḥ — He; naḥ — unto us; dhāsyati — shall give; śam — good fortune; mahātmā — the Supersoul.
By His inconceivable internal potency, the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into various transcendental bodies as Vāmanadeva, the incarnation of strength among the demigods; Paraśurāma, the incarnation among saints; Nṛsiṁhadeva and Varāha, incarnations among animals; and Matsya and Kūrma, incarnations among aquatics. He accepts various transcendental bodies among all types of living entities, and among human beings He especially appears as Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma. By His causeless mercy, He protects the demigods, who are always harassed by the demons. He is the supreme worshipable Deity of all living entities. He is the supreme cause, represented as the male and female creative energies. Although different from this universe, He exists in His universal form [virāṭ-rūpa]. In our fearful condition, let us take shelter of Him, for we are sure that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Soul, will give us His protection.
In this verse, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is ascertained to be the original cause of creation. Śrīdhara Svāmī, in his commentary Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, replies to the idea that prakṛti and puruṣa are the causes of the cosmic manifestation. As stated herein, paraṁ pradhānaṁ puruṣaṁ viśvam anyam: “He is the supreme cause, represented as the male and female creative energies. Although different from this universe, He exists in His universal form [virāṭ rūpa].” The word prakṛti, which is used to indicate the source of generation, refers to the material energy of the Supreme Lord, and the word puruṣa refers to the living entities, who are the superior energy of the Lord. Both the prakṛti and puruṣa ultimately enter the Supreme Lord, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām).
Although prakṛti and puruṣa superficially appear to be the causes of the material manifestation, both are emanations of different energies of the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the cause of prakṛti and puruṣa. He is the original cause (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam). The Nāradīya Purāṇa says:
avikāro ’pi paramaḥ
prakṛtis tu vikāriṇī
anupraviśya govindaḥ
prakṛtiś cābhidhīyate
Both the prakṛti and puruṣa, which are inferior and superior energies, are emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As explained in Bhagavad-gītā (gām āviśya), the Lord enters the prakṛti, and then the prakṛti creates different manifestations. The prakṛti is not independent or beyond His energies. Vāsudeva, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the original cause of everything. Therefore the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.8):
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.33) the Lord also says, aham evāsam evāgre: “Only I existed before the creation.” This is confirmed in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa as follows:
smṛtir avyavadhānena
prakṛtitvam iti sthitiḥ
ubhayātmaka-sūtitvād
vāsudevaḥ paraḥ pumān
prakṛtiḥ puruṣaś ceti
śabdair eko ’bhidhīyate
To generate the universe, the Lord acts indirectly as the puruṣa and directly as the prakṛti. Because both energies emanate from Lord Vāsudeva, the all-pervasive Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is known as both prakṛti and puruṣa. Therefore Vāsudeva is the cause of everything (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam).