In a time before the start of time

Everything is temporary, created, and destroyed at a certain date. This happens because we are under the influence of time. Our history, however, starts before that, in a time before the start of time

Everything that exists in this material world was created at a certain date and everything will be destroyed at a certain date. Everything is temporary. This happens because we are under the influence of the material time.

In SB 3.26.15, time is counted as one of the material elements, just as earth, water, fire, etc. Time is described as a "mixing element" or as an "agitating element" because it puts the universe in motion, activating the innumerable transformations that lead to the creation and destruction of everything that exists inside the universe, including the universe itself. Because of the influence of time, everything that is material has a beginning and an end.

This is further corroborated in SB 7.1.11, where it's described: "King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of the material and spiritual energies, who is certainly the creator of the entire cosmos, creates the time factor to allow the material energy and the living entity to act within the limits of time. Thus the Supreme Personality is never under the time factor nor under the material energy."

The Bhagavad-Gita explains we are not the body, but the spirit soul inside the body. As souls, we are eternal in nature, but currently, we are disconnected from this original nature, being placed in a temporary condition that is foreign to us. Inside this temporary nature, we are called "conditioned souls", because we are forced to accept artificial conditions such as birth and death, temporary relationships, and so on. All of this happens due to the influence of time.

How long have we been trapped here in this material world? The Sanskrit word is "anadi". The dictionary meaning of anadi is "beginningless", but Srila Prabhupada translated it as "from time immemorial", as we can see for example in his purport to CC Madhya 20.117:

“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence."

In terms of logic, there is little difference between "beginningless" and "from time immemorial" because if something is so distant in the past that its beginning can't be traced back, it is, practically speaking, beginningless. However, "from time immemorial" carries the implicit meaning that distant as it may be, there is a beginning. Therefore, the conditioning of the soul is not literally "beginningless", but it is just for so long that the beginning can't be traced. This understanding is important, because if we accept that the conditioning of the soul is literally "beginningless", we will conclude that the soul is a product of this material world and was never out of it, which contradicts the basic understanding of the soul as something transcendental to the material energy, part and parcel of Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada explains more about the original position of the soul and his relationship with the material energy and the material time in his purport to the same verse:

"The living entity is called the marginal energy because by nature he is spiritual but by forgetfulness he is situated in the material energy. Thus he has the power to live either in the material energy or in the spiritual energy, and for this reason he is called marginal energy. Being in the marginal position, he is sometimes attracted by the external, illusory energy, and this is the beginning of his material life. When he enters the material energy, he is subjected to the threefold time measurement — past, present and future. Past, present and future belong only to the material world; they do not exist in the spiritual world. The living entity is eternal, and he existed before the creation of this material world. Unfortunately he has forgotten his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. The living entity’s forgetfulness is described herein as anādi, which indicates that it has existed since time immemorial. One should understand that due to his desire to enjoy himself in competition with Kṛṣṇa, the living entity comes into material existence."

All conditioned souls are put under the influence of time from the moment they take part in the material creation, but the Lord remains outside of it in His transcendental position. Even when He appears to act under time, appearing inside the material universes and executing His pastimes here, He is never under time's control. As Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport of the same verse: "One should not think that the Lord is dependent on the time factor. He actually creates the situation by which material nature acts and by which the conditioned soul is placed under material nature. Both the conditioned soul and the material nature act within the time factor, but the Lord is not subject to the actions and reactions of time, for time has been created by Him."

As he further explains in his purport to SB 3.26.17: "Material nature appears to the material scientist to act and react in a wonderful manner, but in reality, it cannot act without the agitator, time, who is the representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When time agitates the neutral state of material nature, material nature begins to produce varieties of manifestations. Ultimately it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of creation. As a woman cannot produce children unless impregnated by a man, material nature cannot produce or manifest anything unless it is impregnated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of the time factor."

This time that puts matter into motion is a representative of the power of God, as Prabhupada mentions in his purport to SB 3.26.16: "The fear of death is the action of the kāla, or the time factor, which represents the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, time is destructive. Whatever is created is subject to destruction and dissolution, which is the action of time. Time is a representation of the Lord, and it reminds us also that we must surrender unto the Lord."

Our story, however, starts before any date we can imagine, it starts in a time before the beginning of time.

The beginning and end of time can't be calculated from the material perspective, because everything (material) that exists exists inside the boundaries of time. From the material perspective, thus, time is eternal. Prabhupada refers to material time as "eternal time" in a few purports, using the expression as a translation of the Sanskrit word "Kala". However, there is another reality that is outside of it, the spiritual reality.

Just like there are two separate natures (the material nature and spiritual nature), apart from the material time (this force that puts the material creation into motion and reminds us of its temporary nature), there is another time that exists outside this material time, which is eternal. This is the eternal time that governs the spiritual planets. There, times does not exist as an oppressive force. Everything is eternal and there is no past or future. Everyone and everything is eternal and all inhabitants live in eternal happiness immersed in their relationships with Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada explains this timeless nature of the spiritual world in his purport to SB 2.9.10: "In the transcendental realm there is no creation and no destruction, and thus the duration of life is eternal unlimitedly. In other words, everything in the transcendental world is everlasting, full of knowledge and bliss without deterioration. Since there is no deterioration, there is no past, present, and future in the estimation of time. It is clearly stated in this verse that the influence of time is conspicuous by its absence. The whole material existence is manifested by actions and reactions of elements which make the influence of time prominent in the matter of past, present, and future. There are no such actions and reactions of cause and effects there, so the cycle of birth, growth, existence, transformations, deterioration, and annihilation — the six material changes — are not existent there."

The difference between the timeless spiritual world and our current reality here in the material world is further explained in the Caitanya Caritamrta (Adi 4.43): "This material world is only a perverted reflection of the spiritual world, where everything is manifested without inebriety. There everything is in its original existence, free from the domination of time. Time cannot deteriorate or interfere with the conditions in the spiritual world, where different manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are the recipients of the worship of different living entities in their constitutional spiritual positions."

Krsna gives us a simple definition of the difference between material and spiritual in the Bhagavad-Gita (2.16) when He mentions "nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ". In the context of the Bhagavad-Gita, this verse is taken as meaning that the body is temporary and the soul is eternal, but in a broader context, it means that everything that is real (spiritual) is eternal and for it there is no change, while for everything that is illusory (material) there is no endurance, since it passes through many changes that inevitably leads to its dissolution. Everything that is spiritual is under the effect of the eternal time, in which there is no change, while everything that is material is under the material time, and thus passes through the stages of creation, change, and dissolution.

This eternal spiritual world, which is not subject to change or decay, is immersed in the light of the impersonal Brahmajyoti, and in one of the corners of the unlimited sky, there is a cloud-like manifestation that includes all the souls who desire to enjoy the material manifestation.

To give a chance to these souls to realize their eternal relationship with Him, the Lord expands Himself as Maha-Vishnu, and lays down in the causal ocean, immersed in His pastime of creating and destroying the material universes. It's explained that Lord Maha-Vishnu looks in the direction of the material energy, and this glance (Lord Sadha-Shiva) carries all the souls who desire to participate in the material creation. However, in the Brahma Samhita 5.7, it's revealed that this glance carries something more: "tyakta-kālam - by casting His glance in the shape of sending His time energy".

Alongside the innumerable souls, the glance of Lord Maha-Vishnu carries also Kala, the time energy, which puts the material energy in movement. The look of Lord Maha-Vishnu marks thus the beginning of material time. The material time, as an energy, is eternal, but its effect on the material creation has a beginning.

Every time Lord Maha-Vishnu exhales, millions and billions of complete material universes emanate from the pores of His body, and every time he inhales, all these universes are destroyed, and the souls who took part in them have to wait inside the body of Maha-Vishnu until the next creation.

The creation of each and every universe follows a sequence that is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Under the influence of material time, each cycle of creation results in a timeline that goes from the creation all the way to the dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. All the events that happen inside this timeline can be organized in chronological order, and we may be able to calculate the precise time each event happened. However, events that happen outside of this timeline, or in other words, outside of the material creation, are subjected to eternal time, where there is no defined past or future. That's why our history starts in a time outside of time, and that's how the Srimad Bhagavatam can describe all the stages of the process of creation, including time itself!

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