SB 1.10.21
अग्रे गुणेभ्यो जगदात्मनीश्वरे निमीलितात्मन्निशि सुप्तशक्तिषु ॥ २१ ॥
ya eka āsīd aviśeṣa ātmani
agre guṇebhyo jagad-ātmanīśvare
nimīlitātman niśi supta-śaktiṣu
Synonyms
[The conversation between the women of Hastināpura is now illustrated in ten verses beginning with this one (tāsāṁ sañjalpam eva darśayati daśabhiḥ).60]; saḥ vai — He indeed [(niścitam);61 the emphatic particle vai here implies that what is being stated is well known on the basis of memory (smaraṇe), meaning “aural tradition” (smṛti)62]; purātanaḥ — the Primeval [the cause of all causes (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇa-bhūtaḥ)63]; puruṣaḥ — Person; kila — [is] assuredly [indicating that there is well-known scriptural authority in this regard (prasiddha-pramāṇa-dyotanam)64]; ayam — this [Śrī Kṛṣṇa; as if the women were all pointing to Him with their fingers (tarjanībhir darśayāmāsuḥ)65]; yaḥ — who; ekaḥ — being one without a second [advitīyaḥ]; āsīt — alone existed; ātmani — in His own essential being [nīja-rūpe]; aviśeṣaḥ — unqualified by phenomenality [(niṣprapañce); or free from the qualification of the guṇas (sattvādi-guṇa-viśeṣa-rahitaḥ)66]; agre — in the beginning; guṇebhyaḥ — prior to the activation of the guṇas [(guṇa-kṣobhāt-pūrvam); or prior to the onset of creation (sṛṣṭy utpatteḥ pūrvam)67]; niśi — [and] during the night of cosmic dissolution [pralaye ca]; supta-śaktiṣu — when the creative potencies were dormant [when the potencies in the form of sattva and so on, which constitute the limiting adjuncts of the jīvas, were merged (jīvopādhi-bhūta-sattvādi-śakti-laya)]; ātman — and the living beings [(jīveṣu satsu); the word ātman here stands for ātmani with elision of final “i”]; nimīlita — were merged [līna-rūpeṣu]; īśvare — in the Supreme Regulator; jagat-ātmani — the Immanent Self of the cosmos and all living beings [jagat-ātmātmā’ntaryāmī68].
Translation
He indeed, the Primeval Puruṣa, is assuredly this Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who, being one without a second, alone existed in His own essential being unqualified by phenomenality, in the beginning, prior to the activation of the guṇas, and during the night of cosmic dissolution, when the creative potencies were dormant and the living beings were merged in Īśvara, the Immanent Self of the cosmos and all living beings.