Text 12]
Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura
765
maitreya uvāca daivena durvitarkyeṇa pareṇānimiṣeṇa ca jāta-kṣobhād bhagavato mahān āsīd guṇa-trayāt
maitreyaḥ uvāca—Maitreya said; daivena—by superior management known as destiny; durvitarkyeṇa—beyond empiric speculation; pareṇa—by Mahā-Viṣṇu; animiṣeṇa—by the potency of eternal time; ca—and; jāta-kṣobhāt—the equilibrium was agitated; bhagavataḥ—of the Personality of Godhead; mahān—the total material elements (the mahat-tattva); āsīt—were produced; guṇa-trayāt—from the three modes of nature.
TRANSLATION
Maitreya said:  When the equilibrium of the combination of the three modes of nature was agitated by the unseen activity of the living entity, by Mahā-Viṣṇu, and by the force of time, the total material elements were produced.
PURPORT
The cause of the material creation is described here very lucidly. The first cause is  daiva , or the destiny of the conditioned soul. The material creation exists for the conditioned soul who wanted to become a false lord for sense enjoyment. One cannot trace out the history of when the conditioned soul first desired to lord it over material nature, but in Vedic literature we always find that the material creation is meant for the sense enjoyment of the conditioned soul. There is a nice verse which says that the sum and substance of the conditioned soul's sense enjoyment is that as soon as he forgets his primary duty, to render service to the Lord, he creates an atmosphere of sense enjoyment which is called  māyā ; that is the cause of material creation.
Another word used here is  durvitarkyeṇa . No one can argue about when and how the conditioned soul became desirous of sense enjoyment, but the cause is there. Material nature is an atmosphere meant only for the sense enjoyment of the conditioned soul, and it is created by the Personality of Godhead. It is mentioned here that in the beginning of creation the material nature, or  prakṛti , is agitated by the Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. There are three Viṣṇus mentioned. One is Mahā-Viṣṇu, another is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the third is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. The First Canto of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  discusses all these three Viṣṇus, and here also it is confirmed