"The universe is without a refuge, without a Supreme God." MN II 68
This translation is mine, and I would defend it in this way:
Issara
Issara [Vedic īśvara, from īś to have power, cp. also P. īsa] lord, ruler, master, chief A iv.90; Sn 552; J i.89 (˚jana), 100, 283 (˚bheri); iv.132 (˚jana); Pv iv.67 (˚mada); Miln 253 (an˚ without a ruler); DhsA 141; DA i.111; PvA 31 (gehassa issarā); Sdhp 348, 431. -- 2. creative deity, Brahmā, D iii.28; M ii.222 = A i.173; Vism 598. page 123.
Brahmā [cp. Vedic brahmán, m., one who prays or chants hymns, nom. sg. Brahmā] 1. the god Brahmā chief of the gods, often represented as the creator of the Universe (vasavattī issaro kattā nimmātā) page 493. - Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary
Theragatha 713:
Whatever has come to pass, or what ever existence has been obtained, all this is without a supreme ruler [
an + issara: anissara]
; so it has been said by the great seer.
"If the pleasure and pain that beings feel are caused the creative act of
a Supreme God [Issara-nimmana-hetu]
, then the Niganthas [Jains] surely
must have been created by an evil Supreme God." MN II 222
There are, Bhaggava, some ascetics and Brahmins who declare as their
doctrine that all things began with the creation by a god [issara, or
ishvara, skt]
, or Brahma. DN iii 28
And this singular god is characterized so:
"That Worshipful God, the Great God, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the Organizer, the Protection, the Creator, the Most Perfect Ruler [issaro]
, the Designer and Orderer, the Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be, He by Whom we were created, He is permanent, Constant, Eternal, Unchanging, and He will remain so for ever and ever." DN i 19
The Pali of the line in question
the world has no shelter and no protector is:
atāṇo [no shelter]
loko anabhissaro [an (without) abhi {supreme) + issara].
And for a bit more emphasis, in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter XVI, 8:
'The universe," they say, "is without truth [
asat that which open to destruction and change, without an
atman/brahman, the Absolute within each of us],"
Without basis/unstable [having no solid ground
apratis.t.ham]
, without a God [Ishvara];
Brought about by a mutual union,
How else? It is caused by lust alone.'
This is a good caricature of the Buddhist position, and certainly the Buddhist position is that the world is unstable, constantly in change, without a basis or essence - an atman/brahman, and is without a god, ishvara, "Brought about by a mutual union," and "caused by desire," all of which could be used to describe the Buddhist position, but no one else of the time.