Text 19
kālo balīyān balināṁ
bhagavān īśvaro ’vyayaḥ
prajāḥ kālayate krīḍan
paśu-pālo yathā paśūn
kālaḥ — time; balīyān — more powerful; balinām — than the powerful; bhagavān īśvaraḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; avyayaḥ — inexhaustible; prajāḥ — mortal creatures; kālayate — causes to move; krīḍan — playing; paśu-pālaḥ — a herdsman; yathā — as; paśūn — domestic animals.
“Inexhaustible time, stronger than the strong, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Like a herdsman moving his animals along, He moves mortal creatures as His pastime.
The universe is created to gradually rectify the contaminated souls trying to exploit material nature. The Lord moves the conditioned souls along, according to their karma, through the various stages of spiritual rectification. Thus the Lord is like a herdsman (the word paśu-pāla literally means “protector of animals”), who moves the creatures under his protection to various pastures and watering spots in order to protect them and sustain them. A further analogy is that of a doctor, who moves the patient under his care to various areas of a hospital for diverse kinds of examination and treatment. Similarly, the Lord brings us through the network of material existence in a gradual cleansing process so that we can enjoy our eternal life of bliss and knowledge as His enlightened associates. Thus all of Mucukunda’s relatives, friends and co-workers had long ago been swept away by the force of time, which of course is Kṛṣṇa Himself.