1086
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[ Canto 3, Ch. 26 ]
TEXT 20
विश्वमात्मगतं व्यञ्जन् कूटस्थो जगदङ्कुरः । स्वतेजसापिवतीत्रमात्मप्रस्वापनं तमः ॥२०॥
viśvam ātma-gatam vyañjan kūṭastho jagad-aṅkuraḥ sva-tejasāpibat tīvram ātma-prasvāpanam tamaḥ
viśvam —the universe;  ātma-gatam —contained within itself;  vyañjan —manifesting;  kūṭa-sthaḥ —unchangeable;  jagat-aṅkuraḥ —the root of all cosmic manifestations;  sva-tejasā —by its own effulgence;  apibat —swallowed up;  tīvram —dense;  ātma-prasvāpanam —which had covered the  mahat-tattva ;  tamaḥ —darkness.
TRANSLATION
Thus, after manifesting variegatedness, the effulgent mahat-tattva, which contains all the universes within itself, which is the root of all cosmic manifestations and which is not destroyed at the time of annihilation, swallows up the darkness which covered the effulgence at the time of dissolution.
PURPORT
Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ever existing, all-blissful and full of knowledge, His different energies are also ever existing in the dormant stage. Thus when the  mahat-tattva  was created, it manifested the material ego and swallowed up the darkness which covered the cosmic manifestation at the time of dissolution. This idea can be further explained. A person at night remains inactive, covered by the darkness of night, but when he is awakened in the morning, the covering of night, or the forgetfulness of the sleeping state, disappears. Similarly, when the  mahat-tattva  appears after the night of dissolution, the effulgence is manifested to exhibit the variegatedness of this material world.
TEXT 21
यत्सत्त्वगुणं स्वच्छं शान्तं भगवतः पदम् । यदाद्वर्गसुदेवाल्यं चित्तं तन्महदात्मकम् ॥२१॥