1108 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 24

of everything. The distinction between matter and spirit is created by the
sleeping energy of the Lord when the Lord wants to give some facility to
those living entities who want to imitate the Lord in His enjoyment. It is
only for them that this material world is created by the dormant energy of
the Lord. For instance, sometimes children want to imitate their mother
and cook in the kitchen, and at such a time the mother supplies them with
some toys so that the children can imitate her cooking. Similarly, when
some of the living entities want to imitate the activities of the Lord, this
material cosmic manifestation is created for them by the Lord. The
material creation is therefore caused by the Lord through His material
energy. It is by the glance of the Lord that the material energy is activated.
At that time the three material qualities are set into motion, and the
material energy is manifested first in the form of the mahat-tattva, then
egotism, then ether, then air, fire, water, and earth. After the creation, the
living entities are impregnated in the cosmic manifestation, and they
emerge as Lord Brahma and the seven great rsis, then as different demigods.
From the demigods come human beings, animals, trees, birds, beasts and
everything else. The original cause, however, is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, as verified herein—tvam eka adyah purusah. This is also con-
firmed in Brahma-samhita:

iSvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

Those who are covered by the material energy cannot understand that
the origin of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
This is summarized in the Vedanta aphorism, janmady asya yatah
(Vedanta-sitra 1.1.2). Krsna also confirms this in Bhagavad-gita:

aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate

iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah

‘I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates
from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional
service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Bg. 10.8)

When Krsna says that He is the origin of everything (aham sarvasya
prabhavo), He means that He is even the source of Lord Brahma, Lord
Siva,the purusa-avataras, the material manifestation and all the living entities
within the material world. Actually the word prabhava (creation) only
refers to this material world, for since the spiritual world is eternally
