PURPORT

The questions regarding creation, maintenance and destruction, which are mentioned in many parts of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, are in relation to different millenniums (kalpas), and therefore they are differently described by different authorities when questioned by different students. There is no difference regarding the creative principles and the Lord's control over them, yet there are some differences in the minute details because of different kalpas. The gigantic sky is the material body of the Lord, called the virata-rupa, and all material creations are resting on the sky or the heart of the Lord. Therefore, beginning from the sky, the first material manifestation to the gross vision, down to the earth, everything is called Brahman. Sarvam khalv idam brahma: "There is nothing but the Lord, and He is one without a second." The living entities are the superior energies, whereas matter is the inferior energy, and the combination of these energies brings about the manifestation of this material world, which is in the heart of the Lord.