स आश्रय: परं ब्रह्म परमात्मेति शब्द्यते ॥ ७ ॥
yato 'sty adhyavasīyate
sa āśrayaḥ paraṁ brahma
paramātmeti śabdyate
dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣaḥ
purāṇārko 'dhunoditaḥ
SYNONYMS
ābhāsaḥ—the cosmic manifestation; ca—and; nirodhaḥ—and its winding up; ca—also; yataḥ—from the source; asti—is; adhyavasīyate—become manifested; saḥ—He; āśrayaḥ—reservoir; param—the Supreme; brahma—Being; paramātmā—the Supersoul; iti—thus; śabdyate—called.
TRANSLATION
The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul is the supreme source of the cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and winding up. Thus He is the Supreme Fountainhead, the Absolute Truth.
PURPORT
Synonyms for the supreme source of all energies, as explained in the very beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1], vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam/ brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate, called Parambrahma, Paramātmā or Bhagavān. The word iti used here in this verse completes the synonyms and thus indicates Bhagavān. This will be further explained in the later verses, but this Bhagavān ultimately means Lord Kṛṣṇa because the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has already accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28] . The original source of all energies, or the summum bonum, is the Absolute Truth, which is called Parambrahma, etc., and Bhagavān is the last word of the Absolute Truth. But even with the synonyms for Bhagavān, such as Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu and Puruṣa, the last word is Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ samaṁ pravartate [Bg. 10.8] , etc. Besides that, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa as a sound incarnation of the Lord.
dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣaḥ
purāṇārko 'dhunoditaḥ