Adi-fila, Chapter 5 441
tad-ekdtmea-riipa is Sesa, and an example of a devotee is Vasudeva, the father of Lord
Krsna. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhisana has commented that the material cosmic mani-
festation is a partial kingdom of God where God must sometimes come to execute
a specific function. The plenary portion of the Lord through whom Lord Krsna
executes such actions is called Maha-Visnu, who is the primal beginning of all in-
carnations. !nexperienced observers presume that the material energy provides both
the cause and elements of the cosmic manifestation and that the living entities are
the enjoyers of material nature. But the devotees of the bhagavata school, which
has scrutinizingly examined the entire situation, can understand that material nature
can independently be neither the supplier of the material elements nor the cause of
the material manifestation. Material nature gets the power to supply the material
elements from the glance of the supreme purusa, Maha-Visnu, and when empowered
by Him she is called the cause of the material manifestation. Both features of ma-
terial nature, as the cause of the material creation and as the source of its elements,
exist due to the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The various expan-
sions of the Supreme Lord who act to empower the material energy are known as
plenary expansions or incarnations. As illustrated by the example of many flames
lit from one flame, all these plenary expansions and incarnations are as good as
Visnu Himself; nevertheless, because of their activities in controlling mayd, some-
times they are known as mdyika, or having a relationship with mdyd. This is a verse
from Srimad-Bhdgavatam (2.6.42).

TEXT 84
HIE cHTMAS BAL SorataEMtfirss |
ABS CHP SANICM Cre Hs
jagrhe paurusam riparh
bhagavan mahad-ddibhih
sambhiitarh sodasa-kalam
Gdau loka-sisrksaya
SYNONYMS
jagrhe—accepted; paurusam—the purusa incarnation; rupam—the form; bhagavan
—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; mahat-ddibhih—by the total material energy,
etc.; sambhiitam—created; sodasa—sixteen; kalam—energies; ddau—originally; /oka—
the material worlds; sisrksaya—with the desire to create.
TRANSLATION
“In the beginning of the creation, the Lord expanded Himself in the form of the
purusa incarnation, accompanied by all the ingredients of material creation. First
He created the sixteen principal energies suitable for creation. This was for the
purpose of manifesting the material universes.”
