152
Śrimad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 3]
TEXT 12
यम उवाच
परो मदन्यो जगतस्तस्थुषश्च 
  ओतं प्रोतं पटत्रघत्र विश्वम् । 
  यदंशतोऽस्य स्थितिजन्मनाशा 
  नस्योतवद् यस्य वशे च लोकः ॥१२॥
yama uvāca 
  paro mad-anyo jagatas tasthuṣaś ca 
  otam protam paṭavad yatra viśvam 
  yad-amśato 'sya sthiti-janma-nāśā 
  nasy otavad yasya vaśe ca lokaḥ
yamaḥ uvāca —Yamarāja replied;  paraḥ —superior;  mat —than me;  anyaḥ —another;  jagataḥ —of all moving things;  tasthuṣaḥ —of non-moving things;  ca —and;  otam —crosswise;  protam —lengthwise;  paṭavat —like a woven cloth;  yatra —in whom;  viśvam —the cosmic manifestation;  yat —of whom;  amśataḥ —from the partial expansions;  asya —of this universe;  sthiti —the maintenance;  janma —the creation;  nāśāḥ —the annihilation;  nasi —in the nose;  ota-vat —like the rope;  yasya —of whom;  vaśe —under the control;  ca —and;  lokaḥ —the whole creation.
TRANSLATION
Yamarāja said: My dear servants, you have accepted me as the Supreme, but factually I am not. Above me, and above all the other demigods, including Indra and Candra, is the one supreme master and controller. The partial manifestations of His personality are Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, who are in charge of the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this universe. He is like the two threads that form the length and breadth of a woven cloth. The entire world is controlled by Him just as a bull is controlled by a rope in its nose.
PURPORT
The order carriers of Yamarāja suspected that there was a ruler even above Yamarāja. To eradicate their doubts, Yamarāja immediately