nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo 'vaśiṣyeta so 'smy aham
aham-I, the Personality of Godhead; eva-certainly; āsam-existed; eva-only; agre-before the creation; na-never; anyat-anything else; yat-which; sat-the effect; asat-the cause; param-the supreme; paścāt-at the end; aham-I, the Personality of Godhead; yat-which; etat-this creation; ca-also; yaḥ-who; avaśiṣyeta-remains; saḥ-that; asmi-am; aham-I, the Personality of Godhead.
"Prior to the cosmic creation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation, only I remain eternally.
The Lord indicates herein that before the material creation He existed in fullness with all transcendental opulences, including all strength, all wealth, all beauty, all knowledge, all fame and all renunciation. If one thinks of a king, he automatically thinks of his secretaries, ministers, military commanders, palaces and so on. Since a king has such opulences, one can simply try to imagine the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the Lord says aham, therefore, it is to be understood that He exists with full potency, including all opulences.