136 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 3

So this purusa form is the confirmation of the same principle. The original
Personality of Godhead Vasudeva or Lord Krsna, who is famous as the son
of King Vasudeva or King Nanda, is full with all opulences, all potencies,
all fames, all beauties, all knowledge and all renunciation. Part of His
opulences is manifested as impersonal Brahman, and part of His opulences
is manifested as Paramatma. This purusa feature of the same Personality
of Godhead Sri Krsna is the original Paramatma manifestation of the Lord.
There are three purusa features in the material creation, and this form, who
is known as the Karanodakaésayi Visnu, is the first of the three. The others
are known as the Garbhodakasayi Visnu and the Ksirodakasayi Visnu,
which we shall know one after another. The innumerable universes are
generated from the skinholes of this Karanodakasayi Visnu, and in each
one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakasayi Visnu.

In the Bhagavad-gita it is also mentioned that the material world is
created at certain intervals and then again destroyed. This creation and
destruction is done by the supreme will because of the conditioned souls
or the nitya-badhya living beings. The nitya-badhya or the eternally
conditioned souls have the sense of individuality or ahankara, which
dictates them sense enjoyment, which they are unable to have constitu-
tionally. The Lord is the only enjoyer, and all others are enjoyed. The
living beings are predominated enjoyers. But the eternally conditioned
souls, forgetful of this constitutional position, have strong aspirations to
enjoy. This chance to enjoy matter is given to the conditioned souls in the
material world, and side by side they are given the chance to understand
their real constitutional position. Those fortunate living entities who catch
the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva after many, many
births in the material world, join the eternally liberated souls and thus are
allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead. After this, such fortunate
living entities need not come again within the occasional material creation.
But those who cannot catch the constitutional truth are again merged into
the mahat-tattva at the time of annihilation of the material creation. When
the creation is again set up, this mahat-tattva is again let loose. This
mahat-tattva contains all the ingredients of the material manifestations,
including the conditioned souls. Primarily this mahat-tattva is divided into
sixteen parts, namely the five gross material elements and the eleven
working instruments or senses. It is like the cloud in the clear sky. In the
spiritual sky, the effulgence of Brahman is spread all round, and the whole
system is dazzling in spiritual light. The mahat-tattva is assembled in some
corner of the vast unlimited spiritual sky, and the part which is thus
covered by the mahat-tattva is called the material sky. This part of the
