10
Śrimad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 8, Ch. 1]
TEXT 9
श्रीमनुरुवाच
येन चेतयते विश्वं विश्वं चेतयते न यम् । 
  यो जागतिं शयानेऽस्मिन्नायं तं वेद वेद सः ॥ ९ ॥
śrī-manur uvāca 
  yena cetayate viśvaṁ 
  viśvaṁ cetayate na yam 
  yo jāgarti śayāne 'smin 
  nāyaṁ taṁ veda veda saḥ
śrī-manuḥ uvāca—Svāyambhuva Manu chanted; yena—by whom (the Personality of Godhead); cetayate—is brought into animation; viśvaṁ—the whole universe; viśvaṁ—the whole universe (the material world); cetayate—animates; na—not; yam—He whom; yaḥ—He who; jāgarti—is always awake (watching all activities); śayāne—while sleeping; asmin—in this body; na—not; ayam—this living entity; tam—Him; veda—knows; veda—knows; saḥ—He.
TRANSLATION
Lord Manu said: The supreme living being has created this material world of animation; it is not that He was created by this material world. When everything is silent, the Supreme Being stays awake as a witness. The living entity does not know Him, but He knows everything.
PURPORT
Here is a distinction between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities.  Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām . According to the Vedic version, the Lord is the supreme eternal, the supreme living being. The difference between the Supreme Being and the ordinary living being is that when this material world is annihilated, all the living entities remain silent in oblivion, in a dreaming or unconscious condition, whereas the Supreme Being stays awake as the witness of everything. This material world is created, it stays for some time, and then it is an-