What is Time Immemorial ?

We know that the Jīvas know everything other than the Lord [ŚB 6.4.25]. So in a broader sense there is nothing except the knowledge of Bhagavān, that the jīvas do not know. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.30—

saṁśayo ’tha viparyāso niścayaḥ smṛtir eva ca

svāpa ity ucyate buddher lakṣaṇaṁ vṛttitaḥ pṛthak

Doubt, misapprehension, correct apprehension, memory and sleep, as determined by their different functions, are said to be the distinct characteristics of intelligence.

This Faculty of Memory is conferred to the mind by Aniruddha, thus this faculty of memory also has no beginning

Kena Upaniṣad—

caitadupasmaratyabhīkṣṇam

and, alone by this Brahman; Madhva reads by this Aniruddha alone that things of world[Mind]; upa-smarati—becomes an instrument of memory, remembers; The power of memory of the mind comes from the Aniruddha aspect. abhīkṣṇam—constantly.

Mind is a product of Māyā and is with the Jīva without beginning as said in the 12th canto—tan manaḥ sṛjate māyā tato jīvasya saṁsṛtiḥ. Thus we see that the Baddha Jīvas are endowed with this material mind without any beginning. Thus the faculty of memory that is a facilitation of the mind is also there with the jīva with no beginning anādīteva.

As the Yoga Sūtra say —

anubhūta-viṣayāsaṁpramoṣaḥ smṛtiā

Memory is the modification which takes content from the experience that has not yet disappeared fully.

jātideśakālavyavahitānāmapyānantaryaṃ smṛtisaṃskārayorekarūpatvāt

Because of our memory of past tendencies, the chain of cause and effect is not broken by change of species, space or time.

One may quote Chāndogya upaniṣad 6.7 to show loss of memory—

sa ha pañcadaśāhāni naśātha hainamupasasāda kiṃ bravīmi bho ityṛcaḥ somya yajūṃṣi sāmānīti sa hovāca na vai mā pratibhānti bho iti

Śvetaketu did not eat anything for fifteen days. After that he came to his father and said, ‘O Father, what shall I recite?’ His father said, ‘Recite the Ṛk, Yajuḥ, and Sāma mantras.’ Śvetaketu replied, ‘I can’t recall any of them, sir’.

But the later verses show that the memory is present but is diminished which can be rekindled with food [anna][body] annamayakoṣa.

taṃ hovāca yathā somya mahato'bhyā hitasyaiko'ṅgāraḥ khadyotamātraḥ pariśiṣṭaḥ syāttena tato'pi na bahu dahedevaṃsomya te ṣoḍaśānāṃ kalānāmekā kalātiśiṣṭā syāttayaitarhi vedānnānubhavasyaśānātha me vijñāsyasīti

The father said to Śvetaketu: ‘O Somya, from a blazing fire, if there is but a small piece of ember left, the size of a firefly, it cannot bum anything bigger than that. Similarly, O Somya, because only one small part of your sixteen parts remains, you cannot remember the Vedas. Eat something and then you will understand what I am saying’.

sa haśātha hainamupasasāda taṃ ha yatkiṃca papraccha sarvaṃha pratipede

Śvetaketu ate something and then went to his father. Whatever his father asked him, he was able to answer [recall].

taṃ hovāca yathā somya mahato'bhyāhitasyaikamaṅgāraṃ khadyotamātraṃ pariśiṣṭaṃ taṃ tṛṇairupasamādhāya prājvalayettena tato'pi bahu dahet

The father said to him: ‘O Somya, from a blazing fire, if there is but a small piece of ember left, the size of a firefly, the fire can again blaze up when you add some grass. The fire, in fact, can then blaze up even more than it did before’.

Material memories get erased with the destruction of material mind but spiritual memories remain in the nitya-svabhāva of the jīva.

netthaṃ jñātaḥ satāṃ saṅge kālo nava-navotsavaiḥ |

tadaivāsyā vraja-bhuvaḥ śoko me niragād iva ||

In this way, in the association of saintly Vaiṣṇavas, I witnessed evernew festivals and did not realize how much time had passed. I almost forgot my pain of separation from the land of Vraja.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

[By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary]

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Thus immersed in the bliss of witnessing spectacular festivals in the company of saintly souls, I did not notice how much time had elapsed. The reason is that every festival there appeared new and ever-fresh to me, as if I had never experienced it before.” Or else it may be said, “The unending novelty of those festivals suffused my heart with happiness.” Alternatively, “Because I witnessed those ever-new festivities in the association of sādhus, I simply could not perceive the passage of time; all things of the past receded from my memory[material things]. As I was intoxicated with bliss, the heartache I experienced in my longing for Śrī Vṛndāvana somewhat dissipated.” This statement makes it clear that Gopa-kumāra is saying, “The happiness I experienced in Śrī Vṛndāvana did not disappear completely from my heart; rather, it was still subtly present.” [asyāḥ śrīvṛndāvanādirūpāyāḥ; śokaḥ adarśanācchocanaṁ vicchedādhivā, me mattaḥ; iveti samūlānirgamaṁ dyotayati]

Thus there is no time which is not impressed on mind as anādi saṁsakāras, in Pramāṇa paddhati Śrī Jayatīrtha writes—nanu, pūrvānubhavajanitasaṁskāraraṇaḥ smṛtikāraṇam, “Indeed, saṁskāras caused by past experience are the cause of memory”. Thus we can understand that by the term “Time immemorial” Śrīla Prabhupāda meant— “with no beginning” Only. Thus the Term has been described.

Also One can refer Tarka Sangraha of Annam Bhaṭṭa [34]—saṃskāramātrajanyaṃ jñāna smṛtiḥ, taddhinaṃ jñānamanubhavaḥ; “Memory is knowledge produced only by past impression, Experience however is knowledge independent of memory”. Because the Jīvas never experienced the start of this bondage as it is beginningless, the experience of the supposed falling into this material world was never registered in the citta of the jīva that is why it was never a part of the Jīva’s memory. Thus Śrīla Prabhupāda used the term ‘Time Immemorial’

Thus the term anādi is frequently used by the ācāryas to describe the bondage of the Jīvas that we previously saw. Limiting the usage of Anādi as a proper noun for Bhagavān is of no use.

The term Śāsvata means changeless as in the Mahābhārata— eṣā trayī purāṇānāmuttamānāṁ ca śāśvatī [Mbh. 1.94.61]; “"Among the greatest scriptures of antiquity, the holy triad of the Veda [trayī ] is also changeless [free of Kalpa-bheda]” As in the Gītā the Lord describes the Jīva to be changeless—ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo; “He is unborn, eternal, changeless and primeval”. That is why Kṛṣṇa uses the word a-śāsvati for the material world because it is always changing. If śāsvata would mean eternal [in the sense of existence] then Kṛṣṇa wouldn’t use it to describe Material world because in existence it is indeed eternal because it is the pariṇāma of the śakti of the Lord. As from the Gītā’s 18th chapter—

sarva-karmāṇy api sadā kurvāṇo mad-vyapāśrayaḥ

mat-prasādād avāpnoti śāśvataṁ padam avyayam

Though engaged in all kinds of activities, My pure devotee, under My protection, reaches the eternally changeless and imperishable abode by My grace.

tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata

tat-prasādāt parāṁ śāntiṁ sthānaṁ prāpsyasi śāśvatam

O scion of Bharata, surrender unto Him utterly. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode free of change.

Śāsvata can have eternal or temporary changelessness depending on usage. Śasvata on the other hand is described The object in perpetuity. Ananta means that which has no end “an-anta”. It is only used to denote objects which have no end. We see a use in the Mahābhārata—

narakam pātitāḥ pārthādīrgha-kālam anantakam

sukhāc ca hīnā rājyāc cavinaṣṭāḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ

"The Pānḍavas have been driven into hell for an endlessly long time. They have been deprived of their happiness and their kingdom. They are lost forevermore." [Mbh. 2.68.5]

The Kauravas are rejoicing after sending the pānḍavas to exile. They are thinking that this very long span of 13 years will seem like it has no ending to the Pānḍavas because they will die before the completion of it. In this way they will be eternally bereft of their opulence in the form of their kingdom and happiness.

As in the Bhāgavatam—

yad-bāndhavaḥ kuru-balābdhim ananta-pāram eko rathena tatare 'ham atīrya-sattvam

pratyāhṛtaṁ bahu dhanaṁ ca mayā pareṣāṁ tejāspadaṁ maṇimayaṁ ca hṛtaṁ śirobhyaḥ

The military strength of the Kauravas was like an ocean in which there dwelled many invincible existences, and thus it was insurmountable[in Material vision there was no way Arjuna could conquer them single handedly]. But because of His friendship, I, seated on the chariot, was able to cross over it. And only by His grace was I able to regain the cows and also collect by force many of the kings' helmets, which were bedecked with jewels that were sources of all brilliance.

sa eṣa bhagavān rājanvyatanod vihataṁ yaśaḥ

purā rudrasya devasyamaye-na-ananta-māyinā

Formerly, O King, that very Supreme Lord, who is the master of unlimited illusionary potencies, expanded the reputation of Rudra, after that god's fame had been struck down by Maya Dānava who didn’t possess infinite poweress.

The erudite disciples of His divine grace have also gave the meaning of anādi-avidyā to be beginningless ignorance in the verse 12.11.29 of Bhāgavatam—anādi — beginningless; avidyayā — by the illusory energy. Thus the meaning of the term “anādi” has been explained. As does Prabhupāda in multiple places himself writes; beginningless in BG 13.13, anādi—without beginning BG 11.19, anādiḥ—without a beginning SB 3.26.3, anādiḥ—without beginning Bs 5.1, anādim—without a beginning        Bs 5.33,

anādim—without beginning BG 10.3, anāditvāt—due to eternity        BG 13.32