Srimad Bhagavatam #21: Brahma appears from the lotus flower
Srimad Bhagavatam #21: Brahma appears from the lotus flower
The only way to understand the Lord is by devotional service, and this devotional service starts with sravanam, hearing about the Lord from devotees.
In this part:
Vidhura asks about the nature of the soul and the Lord (chapter 3.7)
The Kumaras met Lord Sankarsana (chapter 3.8)
Lord Sankarsana describes the beginning of the universe to the Kumaras
Solving apparent contradictions
Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy (chapter 3.9)
The position of the materialist
The position of the devotees
Brahma is empowered to re-create the universe
» Get the lesson in audio, as a podcast 🔉
» Download the PDF:
Vidhura asks about the nature of the soul and the Lord (chapter 3.7)
In chapter 6, Maitreya described the process of creation from the point of view of the Lord, explaining how the Lord participates in the process of creation. Although in reality the Lord never gets in contact with the material energy, remaining aloof, still He participates in every step of creation through His different energies.
In the classical Indian systems of philosophy, two common ideas about the nature of the Lord are monism and dualism. Monist philosophers believe that everything is one, everything is Brahman and there is nothing apart from Brahman. In the philosophy of Sankaracarya, for example, it’s said that the souls are just parts of Brahman that become covered by Maya. Once this illusory covering is removed, we become again one. Dualist philosophers believe there is a difference between Brahman and the individual souls, as well as the material energy, and explain the existence of the universe through the combination of these different forces. In dualism, Brahman is not Supreme, because other forces are separated and independent from him.
All the Vaishnava acaryas disagreed with both monism and dualism, accepting that the Lord has multiple potencies, that are simultaneously one and different from Him.
The philosophy of Ramanujacarya is called Visistadvaita-vada (non-dualism with distinctions, or purified monism); the philosophy of Madhvacarya is called Suddha-dvaitavada (purified dualism); the philosophy of Vishnusvami is called Suddhadvaita-vada (purified monism) and the philosophy of Nimbarka is called Dvaitadvaita-vada (monism and dualism, oneness and difference). There are differences in their presentations, but they all agree on the essential points. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered the perfect explanation of this concept in his Acintya-bhedabheda-tattva philosophy, explaining how the Lord and his energies are inconceivably one and different.
Therefore, although the Lord is involved in all steps of the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe through His different potencies, at the same time he is transcendental. Because these two points are simultaneously true, they can be dificult to understand.
Vidhura thus starts the 7th chapter clarifying this point. If the Lord is transcendental, how can He become involved in the material creation?
In verses 3.7.2 to 3.7.6, Vidhura asks three questions, which are answered by Maitreya in the following verses.
1- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is pure, spiritual, and unchangeable. Being so, how is it possible that can be connected with the three modes of nature and their activities, getting involved in the creation of the universe and different activities inside the material universes in His different incarnations? People get involved in material activities due to desire, but it is not possible that the Lord may have such material desires because He is self-satisfied and detached.
Maitreya’s answer comes in text 9:
“Certain conditioned souls put forward the theory that the Supreme Brahman, or the Personality of Godhead, is overcome by illusion, or māyā, and at the same time, they maintain that He is unconditioned. This is against all logic.” (SB 3.7.9)
Mayavadis and others argue that the Lord falls into Maya when he comes to this material world as an incarnation, while at the same time defining Brahman as transcendental. Maitreya argues that this is against all logic. In the first canto, it was already stated that Vyasadeva saw the Lord and the material energy in his meditation, and the material energy was completely under His control. There is no possibility of the Lord being overpowered by his own illusory energy, just like a person can’t drown in a cup of water.
The Lord is completely transcendental to the illusory energy and the material creation. He doesn’t desire anything from here. He creates the material manifestation simply to give a chance to His parts and parcels to practice devotional service and re-attain their eternal spiritual position. When He comes in His different incarnations, He appears in His eternal spiritual form and performs His transcendental pastimes. He doesn’t at any time become involved with the illusory energy.
2- How can the spirit soul, who is by nature transcendental and full of knowledge and bliss fall into illusion? In other words, how can the pure soul leave the association of Krsna and become a conditioned soul covered by ignorance?
Maitreya answers in verses 10 and 11:
“The living entity is in distress regarding his self-identity. He has no factual background, like a man who dreams that he sees his head cut off. As the moon reflected on water appears to the seer to tremble due to being associated with the quality of the water, so the self associated with matter appears to be qualified as matter.” (SB 3.7.10-11)
One may dream that he is seeing his head being cut off, but this is simply due to his delirious estate. In reality, this is an impossible situation. The eyes are situated in the head, so it’s impossible for one to see his own head being cut out.
Similarly, the material sufferings of the soul appear only due to ignorance, in identification with the body. In reality, these are illusory situations. The soul never dies, but when we identify with a material body, we think we are dying. The soul is full of knowledge, but by identifying with the body we identify with the ignorance of the body and forget our original transcendental knowledge. The soul is by nature full of bliss, but due to identification with the body we experience suffering. In reality, it is only the body that dies, that is in ignorance, and that suffers, but because we identify with the body, we experience all these things.
Later in Srimad Bhagavatam, we find the description of King Puranjana following Queen Puranjani in all her activities. This is an allegory that illustrates this helpless condition of the illusioned soul:
“When the Queen drank liquor, King Purañjana also engaged in drinking. When the Queen dined, he used to dine with her, and when she chewed, King Purañjana used to chew along with her. When the Queen sang, he also sang. Similarly, when the Queen cried, he also cried, and when the Queen laughed, he also laughed. When the Queen talked loosely, he also talked loosely, and when the Queen walked, the King walked behind her. When the Queen would stand still, the King would also stand still, and when the Queen would lie down in bed, he would also follow and lie down with her. When the Queen sat, he would also sit, and when the Queen heard something, he would follow her to hear the same thing. When the Queen saw something, the King would also look at it, and when the Queen smelled something, the King would follow her to smell the same thing. When the Queen touched something, the King would also touch it, and when the dear Queen was lamenting, the poor King also had to follow her in lamentation. In the same way, when the Queen felt enjoyment, he also enjoyed, and when the Queen was satisfied, the King also felt satisfaction.” (SB 4.25.57-61)
To better explain this point, Maitreya offers the example of the moon being reflected in a pond of water. Although the moon in the sky is fixed and doesn’t tremble, because the water trembles, the reflection of the moon appears to also tremble.
When the consciousness of the soul is reflected in matter, it appears to assume the qualities of matter, such as ignorance, but this association is not factual. In his purport, Prabhupada emphasizes the word pratīyate, which means “apparently” and “not actually” (like the experience of having one’s head cut off in a dream). He mentions that “the living entities appear to be tainted by material qualities like illusion, lamentation and miseries, although in the pure soul such qualities are completely absent.”
When a soul is associated with the modes of passion and ignorance, the quivering of the reflection on the water is more intense, and when a soul is associated with the mode of goodness, the quivering becomes less, just like the moon reflected in a lake in a day without wind. When the soul finally recovers his transcendental position, the association with the pond of water completely ceases. This example also describes the transcendental position of Krsna, who just like the original moon never comes in contact with the water.
How can we get rid of this false identification? This is answered in the next three verses. The solution is of course the process of devotional service:
“But that misconception of self-identity can be diminished gradually by the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, through the process of devotional service to the Lord in the mode of detachment.
When the senses are satisfied in the seer-Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead, and merge in Him, all miseries are completely vanquished, as after a sound sleep.
Simply by chanting and hearing of the transcendental name, form, etc., of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one can achieve the cessation of unlimited miserable conditions. Therefore what to speak of those who have attained attraction for serving the flavor of the dust of the Lord’s lotus feet?” (SB 3.7.12-14)
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains the processes of Sadhana Bhakti and Raga Bhakti (or Raganuga Bhakti). The first is the process of practicing devotional service with our present senses under the regulations of the recognized scriptures. This is the process we have to follow until we become liberated. After liberation one may start the process of Raga Bhakti, in which the mature devotee automatically takes to the various services of the Lord out of sincere attachment.
3- Paramatma is always with the soul, always present in the heart and accompanying the soul from one body to the other. Why are the living entities subjected to so many miseries and misfortunes despite the Lord’s presence in their hearts as the Supersoul?
The answer to this third question is also given in the previous verses. Although the Lord is present in the hearts, He doesn’t interfere with the material activities of the soul, acting as a neutral witness. The Lord is not responsible for the miseries of the soul, He just creates the conditions for the soul to act according to his desires. However, when one desires to become free from material illusion, the Lord helps in all aspects.
Vidhura accepts the answers of Maitreya with gratitude, and from verse 21 to the end of the 7th chapter poses additional questions.
Vidhura wants to know about the Manus and their descendants, the different planetary systems, the different classes of living entities as well as their subdivisions, the nature of the three predominating deities, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, as well as the different incarnations of the Lord, the divisions and orders of human society, the births of great sages, and the divisions of the Vedas, and so on. These questions will be answered throughout the third and fourth cantos.
By the end of the chapter, Sukadeva Goswami describes Maitreya preparing to answer all these different questions:
“Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus the chief of the sages, who was always enthusiastic about describing topics regarding the Personality of Godhead, began to narrate the descriptive explanation of the Purāṇas, being so infused by Vidura. He was very much enlivened by speaking on the transcendental activities of the Lord.” (SB 3.7.42)
The Kumaras met Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa (chapter 3.8)
Maitreya reveals to Vidura that a long time ago, Sanat-kumara had asked similar questions to Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa when he visited Him at the bottom of the universe, accompanied by a group of great sages.
Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa sustains the whole universe, and therefore He is situated at the very bottom. To reach there, the sages used their mystic powers to transport themselves through the Ganges, which flows from the top of the universe all the way to the bottom. As Prabhupada mentions in his commentary:
“The sages came down from Satyaloka by taking advantage of the flowing water, a process of transportation made possible by the power of mystic yoga. If a river flows thousands and thousands of miles, a perfect yogī can at once transport himself from one place to another simply by dipping in its water. The Ganges is the only celestial river which flows throughout the universe, and great sages travel all over the universe via this sacred river.” (3.8.5 purport)
Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, also referred to as Ananta, or Śeṣa, is the source of power that sustains all universes and all planets inside in their respective positions. What in modern physics is defined as gravity is, according to the Vedas, a display of the potency of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa.
It is said that all universes are resting on the hoods of Lord Śeṣa, just like small grains of mustard. This should not be taken literally, in the sense the Saṅkarṣaṇa is physically holding the universes and planets since He doesn’t have a physical body. He does everything through His energy. This just illustrates that the task of holding the universes and maintaining the orbits of the planets and stars is not a difficult task for Him. He can do it easily while simultaneously describing the glories of the Lord with his unlimited hoods.
There is a gigantic form of Saṅkarṣaṇa that sustains all universes on the causal ocean, and there is a partial incarnation inside each particular universe (which originates from Lord Ksirodakasayi Vishnu). When in the Bhagavad-Gita the Lord says “I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit.”, this refers to His expansion as Lord Ananta, or Saṅkarṣaṇa.
As Prabhupada explains:
“The Lord of Śvetadvīpa expands Himself as Śeṣa Nāga, who sustains all the planets upon His innumerable hoods. These huge global spheres are compared to grains of mustard resting on the spiritual hoods of Śeṣa Nāga. The scientists’ law of gravity is a partial explanation of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa’s energy. The name “Saṅkarṣaṇa” has an etymological relationship to the idea of gravity.” (CC Adi 5.119 purport)
According to Vedic cosmology, all the structures of the universe, including not only the planets of our solar system but also all the stars that compose our universe have their orbits around Dhruvaloka, just like in a gigantic chandelier. Modern science also has a similar view, believing that the stars orbit around the center of the galaxy. The difference is that in modern physics this phenomenon is attributed to an unconscious force, gravity, while the Vedas explain that gravity is just one of the features of the energy of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa.
Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa describes the beginning of the universe to the Kumaras
Maitreya explains that in the distant past the four Kumāras, headed by Sanat-kumāra, met Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa and heard the meaning of the Srimad Bhagavatam from Him. Later, Sanat-kumara transmitted this knowledge to Sāṅkhyāyana Muni, who later taught Parāśara, who in turn spoke it to Maitreya.
This description is similar to the description given by Sukadeva Goswami in the 9th chapter of the 2nd canto, describing the birth of Lord Brahma from the lotus flower, his austerities, and his meeting with the Lord. There are however a few peculiarities.
The first difference between the two descriptions is that the description in chapter 2.9 is a narration by Sukadeva Goswami, while in chapter 3.8 he repeats the words of Maitreya Muni, who in turn describes a conversation between Lord Ananta and the Four Kumaras, which offers unique details of the process of creation from the point of view of Lord Brahma.
It appears that the description from chapter 2.9 describes the current day of Brahma, while the description in chapter 3.8 appears to blend details from the very first day of Brahma and the current day (the first day of the second half of his life). This can explain the few apparent contradictions between the two descriptions. This type of description that blends details of more than one event or idea is relatively common in Vedic literature. In the 5th canto for example, there is a description of the universe that simultaneously describes the geography of our planet, the features of Bhu-Mandala, the solar system, and the abode of the demigods. Such descriptions may be dificult to follow, but one may appreciate how they can bring about lots of details in just a few words.
The description starts at the very beginning of the creation when Lord Garbhodakasayi Vishnu appeared to be lying down alone in the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean. At this time He appeared to be sleeping, immersed in His internal potency. In reality, the Lord doesn’t need to sleep, but he plays the pastime of sleeping as an excuse for associating with His internal potency.
“At that time when the three worlds were submerged in water, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu was alone, lying on His bedstead, the great snake Ananta, and although He appeared to be in slumber in His own internal potency, free from the action of the external energy, His eyes were not completely closed.” (SB 3.8.10)
The Lord was however not alone. He was accompanied by all the souls in their subtle bodies, waiting for the creation, and the material energy in the form of kāla, the material time. The Lord is compared to fire within wood because at that time the Lord was performing no activity. Everything was at rest.
“Just like the strength of fire within fuel wood, the Lord remained within the water of dissolution, submerging all the living entities in their subtle bodies. He lay in the self-invigorated energy called kāla.” (3.8.11)
It is mentioned that the Lord remained in this transcendental slumber for one thousand Divya-yugas (the combination of the four ages), which corresponds to 4.32 billion years, the period of the night of Lord Brahma. In this way, we can understand that the creation of the material elements described in chapter 3.5, as well as the Lord entering each universe as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu together with Kali and the souls, all happened in a short time after the complete devastation at the end of the previous day of Brahma. This idea gets additional support when we calculate the total age of the universe in relation to experimental observations, which we will see in detail later.
After the Lord entered the universe, He remained in His transcendental slumber for 1000 Divya-yugas, just like He does every night of Brahma. During this time, all the jivas were resting in his abdomen, together with all material elements.
At the end of this period, the jivas became again active, awakened by kāla-śakti, the time energy. They desired to continue their material activities. This aggregate of all the souls made the abdomen of the Lord look bluish, a color that symbolizes their ignorance and desire to be engaged in fruitive activities.
“The Lord lay down for a thousand cycles of four yugas in His internal potency, and by His external energy He appeared to be sleeping within the water. When the living entities were coming out for further development of their fruitive activities, actuated by the energy called kāla-śakti, He saw His transcendental body as bluish.” (SB 3.8.12)
At this point, the Lord focused His attention on the aggregate of the material elements available for the creation of the universe. This aggregate of material elements, agitated by the mode of passion, and combined with the sum-total of the fruitive activities of all the souls of the universe took the form of a lotus flower, that appeared from His abdomen. The Lord then entered this Lotus flower as Paramatma. This lotus flower was also impregnated by the three modes of material nature. When this lotus flower finally blossomed, Brahma appeared on top of it.
“The subtle subject matter of creation, on which the Lord’s attention was fixed, was agitated by the material mode of passion, and thus the subtle form of creation pierced through His abdomen.
Piercing through, this sum total form of the fruitive activity of the living entities took the shape of the bud of a lotus flower generated from the Personality of Viṣṇu, and by His supreme will it illuminated everything, like the sun, and dried up the vast waters of devastation.
Into that universal lotus flower Lord Viṣṇu personally entered as the Supersoul, and when it was thus impregnated with all the modes of material nature, the personality of Vedic wisdom, whom we call the self-born, was generated.” (3.8.13-15)
Brahma comes directly from Lord Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, and therefore he is called “Aja”, or unborn, since he has no material father.
In his purport, Prabhupada mentions:
“This lotus flower is the universal virāṭ form or the gigantic form of the Lord in the material world. It becomes amalgamated in the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, in His abdomen, at the time of dissolution, and it becomes manifest at the time of creation. This is due to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who enters into each of the universes. In this form is the sum total of all the fruitive activities of the living entities conditioned by material nature, and the first of them, namely Brahmā, or the controller of the universe, is generated from this lotus flower. This first-born living being, unlike all the others, has no material father, and thus he is called self-born, or svayambhū. He goes to sleep with Nārāyaṇa at the time of devastation, and when there is another creation, he is born in this way. From this description we have the conception of three — the gross virāṭ form, the subtle Hiraṇyagarbha and the material creative force, Brahmā.”
This lotus flower from which Lord Brahma appears is coated by all the material elements of the material creation. It also contains all the fruitive activities of the souls, the material modes, and so on. Everything that will form the material creation is originally part of this lotus.
The subtle universal form has the same form as the universe when manifested. The gross manifestation created by Brahma just superimposes this subtle manifestation created by the Lord. Because all the material elements that form the planets were originally inside this gigantic lotus flower, it is sometimes said that the planets reside inside the steam of the lotus. It is not that the planets are all literally situated inside the lotus, but the material elements that compose them once were.
Brahma then uses these elements to create the material universe, that occupies most of the upper part of the universal globe (the part that is not filled with water). All these planets and stars are divided into 14 planetary systems, with Patala situated at the very bottom, close to the Garbhodaka ocean, and Brahmaloka situated at the very top, close to the universal coverings.
Brahma creates the universe using the elements supplied by the Lord and using the potency given by the Lord. The same is valid for us, everything we do consists in manipulating matter using the energy and talents given by the Lord. Therefore, since everything comes from the Lord, everything should be used for Him.
Waking up on top of the lotus, Brahma could not see anything. Verse 16 describes that he looked around to survey the space around him, and in this way, he acquired four heads. Next, verse 17 describes how he could at first not understand the creation, the lotus, or himself, and this way a whole day of Brahma passed, at the end of which the air of devastation began to move the water and the lotus in great circular waves.
“Brahmā, born out of the lotus flower, could not see the world, although he was situated in the whorl. He therefore circumambulated all of space, and while moving his eyes in all directions he achieved four heads in terms of the four directions.
Lord Brahmā, situated in that lotus, could not perfectly understand the creation, the lotus or himself. At the end of the millennium the air of devastation began to move the water and the lotus in great circular waves.” (SB 3.8.16-17)
These two verses appear to describe the very first day of the life of Brahma, when we woke up on top of the lotus for the first time. It is described that at the beginning of the life of Brahma, there is a millennium called Brahma-kalpa when Brahma first appears, and then a second millennium called Pādma-kalpa, because on this millennium the first creation takes place (SB 3.11.35-36). The description by Lord Ananta appears to match this description.
Next, still not being able to understand the origin of the Lotus or himself, Brahma had the idea of exploring it by going down the steam, but at a certain point, he met the kala-chakra of the Lord, the time factor, and becoming fearful he hurried in returning to the top. Later, in verse 31, it is described that the Sudarśana chakra protects Garbhodakasayi Vishnu from all sides, and thanks to her not even the sun, moon, air, fire, etc. can approach Him. It appears that the Sudarśana chakra moved to prevent Brahma from reaching the Lord by such an unauthorized process.
Brahma then gave up the idea of understanding his origin by experimental means and instead started performing austerities by meditating on the Supreme Lord.
“Thereafter, being unable to achieve the desired destination, he retired from such searching and came back again to the top of the lotus. Thus, controlling all objectives, he concentrated his mind on the Supreme Lord.” (SB 3.8.21)
The process of creation of the universe is very dificult to understand. In his purport to text 3.8.17, Prabhupada wars that: “No one, therefore, can know the mystery of the creation and cosmic manifestation simply by mental speculation. The human being is so limited in his capacity that without the help of the Supreme he can hardly understand the mystery of the will of the Lord in terms of creation, continuance and destruction.”
How can we understand it then? The answer is given by the example of Lord Brahma: only by surrendering to the Lord in devotional service can we fully understand this intricate topic. Still, thanks to the commentaries of Srila Prabhupada and due to whatever spiritual practice we may be blessed in doing, we may understand it up to a certain extent.
Through his meditation, Brahma was able to develop knowledge and was able to see the Lord inside his heart as Paramatma. Then, looking outside, he was able to see Garbhodakasayi Vishnu lying on Lord Sesa on the Garbhodaka ocean, and the whole scene was illuminated by the transcendental light emanating from the jewels bedecking the hoods of Lord Sesa, dissipating all the darkness of these regions. In the beginning, Brahma could not see this transcendental light, just like we can’t see it. All he saw was darkness. However, after acquiring transcendental vision, he was able to see it around the Lord.
Verses 3.8.24 and 25, describe the vision of Brahma:
“The luster of the transcendental body of the Lord mocked the beauty of the coral mountain. The coral mountain is very beautifully dressed by the evening sky, but the yellow dress of the Lord mocked its beauty. There is gold on the summit of the mountain, but the Lord’s helmet, bedecked with jewels, mocked it. The mountain’s waterfalls, herbs, etc., with a panorama of flowers, seem like garlands, but the Lord’s gigantic body, and His hands and legs, decorated with jewels, pearls, tulasī leaves and flower garlands, mocked the scene on the mountain.
His transcendental body, unlimited in length and breadth, occupied the three planetary systems, upper, middle and lower. His body was self-illuminated by unparalleled dress and variegatedness and was properly ornamented.”
The Lord showed His lotus feet to Lord Brahma by raising them. The lotus feet of the Lord are the source of all blessings given to devotees who worship the Lord in pure devotional service. Simultaneously, the Lord vanquishes the distress of His devotees with his beautiful smile.
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada describes:
“Devotional service to the Lord is very much obliging to Him. There are many transcendentalists in different fields of spiritual activities, but devotional service to the Lord is unique. Devotees do not ask anything from the Lord in exchange for their service. Even the most desirable liberation is refused by devotees, although offered by the Lord. Thus the Lord becomes a kind of debtor to the devotees, and He can only try to repay the devotees’ service with His ever-enchanting smile. The devotees are ever satisfied by the smiling face of the Lord, and they become enlivened. And by seeing the devotees so enlivened, the Lord Himself is further satisfied. So there is continuous transcendental competition between the Lord and His devotees by such reciprocation of service and acknowledgement.”
Observing the beautiful form of the Lord and His opulences, Brahma concluded that He is the Supreme Lord. At that point, he could see the stem of the lotus flower from where he was born coming out of his navel, the devastating waters of the ocean, and so on. Everything became visible to him.
Brahma then became surcharged with the mode of passion and inclined to create the universe. The Lord indicated to Brahma the five causes of creation, which are Īśvara (The Supreme Lord); Prakṛti (the material nature); Kāla (time); the jīvas (living entities), and Karma (their activities). Seeing these five causes, Brahma began to offer his prayers to the Lord, taking shelter of Him before starting his work of creation.
Solving apparent contradictions
An attentive reader could notice an apparent contradiction between verse SB 2.9.8, where it is mentioned that Brahma meditated for 1,000 years of the demigods (divyaṁ sahasrābdam), and verse SB 3.8.22, where it is mentioned that Brahma meditated for one hundred years (puruṣāyuṣābhi-pravṛtta-yogena). It’s common for differences in small details to appear in different narrations of the same pastimes in different Puranas because they often include different accounts of the same pastimes, that mention different details or describe them from different perspectives.
By the description in SB 2.9.8, it’s clear that this verse describes the meditation of Brahma at the beginning of the current day, before having the darshan of the Lord and hearing the four original verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam from Him. The second verse, SB 3.8.22, however, is more dificult to understand, because the words puruṣa-āyuṣā can be interpreted as a lifetime of a human being (100 years) or a lifetime of Brahma, which is a much longer period. We can see that in both the verse and the purport, Srila Prabhupada goes with the second interpretation.
In his purport to verse 3.8.26, Srila Prabhupada mentions a verse of the Gopala Tapani Upanisad (Purva Khanda, Verse 17) which appears to be the key to solving the mystery:
brāhmaṇo ’sāv anavarataṁ me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ
parārdhānte so ’budhyata
gopa-veśo me purastāt āvirbabhūva
In this verse, Lord Brahma describes how after constantly meditating and worshiping the Lord (brāhmaṇo ’sāv) for the first half of his life (parārdhānte), he finally realized (abudhyata) the Lord in His original form, as a cowherd boy (gopa-veśo).
In his commentary on this verse, Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura mentions that the personal encounter of Brahma with Krsna happened at the beginning of the Padma-kalpa after the first half of the life of Brahma was complete (in other words, at the beginning of the current day). This is also confirmed by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, who mentions that after half of his life, the Lord became known to Lord Brahma, leading to the encounter described in the 2nd canto.
In his purport to 3.8.26 Srila Prabhupada concludes that after meditating for many millions of years, Brahmā could understand the transcendental form of the Lord as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a cowherd boy, and he recorded his experience in the Brahma-saṁhitā.
It seems thus that SB 3.8.22 describes this long process of Brahma serving the Lord during the first half of his life, and then finally meeting the Lord in His original form at the beginning of the current day. This version can reconcile these apparent contradictions.
One could also argue that the meeting of Brahma with the Lord described in chapter 3.8 is not the same as Lord Brahma seeing the Lord in his original form in chapter 2.9. Could it be that chapter 3.8 describes Brahma meeting the Lord at the beginning of his life, while chapter 2.9 describes another meeting at the beginning of the current day? There are quite a few arguments against this idea:
a) Prabhupada doesn’t appear to agree, mentioning the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad not just once but twice in his purports in chapter 3.9. This Upanisad directly describes the meeting of Brahma with Krsna. None of his purports in the chapter give the idea that there were two separate meetings, on the opposite. In his purport to verse 44, for example, he mentions: “Before his activity in creating the universe, Brahmā saw the Lord. That is the explanation of the catuḥ-ślokī Bhāgavatam. When the creation awaited Brahmā’s activity, Brahmā saw the Lord”. This indicates both chapters speak about the same meeting.
b) The prayers of Lord Brahma later in the chapter indirectly mention aspects of Krsna’s intimate pastimes in Vrindavana which would not be possible if he hadn’t seen the spiritual world.
c) In verse 3.9.29, where the Lord tells Brahma that what he had asked for had already been granted before, indicating that this is not the first time Brahma created the universe. Verses 22 and 43 use the words “pūrva-vat” and “yathā-pūrvam” which means “as before”, confirming this.
d) Just like the description in chapter 3.8, the description in chapter 2.9 also gives the impression that Brahma met with Lord Narayana. It’s only due to the explanations of our acaryas, as well as the descriptions of other scriptures, such as the Brahma Sanhita and the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad (where Brahma himself narrates his experience) that we can understand that Brahma actually met with Krsna in His original form.
We should thus take both as descriptions of the same meeting, just at different stages or from a different perspective.
Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy (chapter 3.9)
Brahma starts his prayers to the Lord by stating that after many years of practicing austerities, he finally had the opportunity to directly see Him. The Lord is the true object of knowledge since there is nothing superior to Him. The form of the Lord is completely spiritual and He is the source of many incarnations.
At first, Brahma tried to understand the Lord by experimental means, but it was ultimately futile. Brahma taught himself quite physically strong and tried to climb down the lotus, but this physical strength didn’t help. Only when he adopted the proper process was he able to see the Lord and understand his origin and purpose. The only way to understand the Lord is by devotional service, and this devotional service starts with sravanam, hearing about the Lord from devotees.
Lord Brahma also shared this realization in verse 5.33 of the Brahma Sanhita:
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is nondual and infallible. He is the original cause of all causes, even though He expands in many, many forms. Although He is the oldest personality, He is ever youthful, unaffected by old age. The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be known by the academic wisdom of the Vedas; one has to approach the devotee of the Lord to understand Him.”
Mayavadis like to argue that when the Lord comes as an incarnation he assumes a material form, and therefore they argue that the form Brahma saw was a representation of the three modes of nature, but Brahma counters this argument by saying that this form he is seeing is eternally freed from material contamination (avabodha-rasodayena śaśvan-nivṛtta-tamasaḥ). In other words, Brahma, who is the most qualified person in the universe and who had direct experience concluded that the Lord has a form and that this form is not only eternal but completely spiritual. There is thus no space to argue on this point.
The position of the materialist
Unfortunately, many are not attracted to the devotional service to the Lord, nor are they interested in hearing about the Lord’s form and pastimes. These people live in constant anxiety under the material modes:
“O my Lord, the people of the world are embarrassed by all material anxieties — they are always afraid. They always try to protect wealth, body and friends, they are filled with lamentation and unlawful desires and paraphernalia, and they avariciously base their undertakings on the perishable conceptions of “my” and “mine.” As long as they do not take shelter of Your safe lotus feet, they are full of such anxieties.”
It’s true that people living in the material platform can enjoy using their material senses, but Brahma argues that the happiness derived from the senses is very small and goes away very fast. The words he uses are kāma-sukha-leśa-lavāya; lesa means “brief” and lavaya means for just a moment.
In search of this very brief material happiness, souls living in the material world suffer from many material miseries, like hunger, thirst, heat, cold, rain, and diseases. They are also overwhelmed by sexual urges and anger. Despite these miseries, however, conditioned souls work very hard in the material world trying to satisfy their material desires, to the point of not being able to sleep at night. However, as remuneration for their efforts, they just get a continuation of the process of birth and death, together with the results of their sinful activities.
Brahma concludes by saying: “I take pity on them, and I am very much aggrieved for them.” This illustrates the position of a devotee of the Lord, who has compassion and works tirelessly for the spiritual elevation of the people.
In verse 9 he shares his realization about the nature of these material miseries and how to become free from them:
“O my Lord, the material miseries are without factual existence for the soul. Yet as long as the conditioned soul sees the body as meant for sense enjoyment, he cannot get out of the entanglement of material miseries, being influenced by Your external energy.” (SB 3.9.9)
As we already studied, the material creation is just a permutation of one of the energies of Krsna, which is originally spiritual. Pure devotees can live in this material world without being affected by illusion because they see everything in connection with Krsna. The material experience starts when we see things as separate from Krsna, as objects meant for our enjoyment. The opposite path starts when we use these same objects in Krsna’s service, as He explains in the Bhagavad-Gita.
The position of the devotees
Starting from verse 11, Brahma speaks about the other side, the position of the devotees of the Lord, who are interested in hearing about Krsna, and thus have their hearts purified to the extent that the Lord personally takes a seat there, illuminating the devotee with devotion and spiritual realization. The Lord has unlimited forms and they are equally powerful, but he agrees to manifest to the devotee in the particular form he is attracted to. In other words, the Lord reciprocates the service of the devotee, not out of obligation, but out of love.
Why does the devotee become attracted to a particular form of the Lord? Is there any particular reason, or is it just by chance? Prabhupada explains:
“This attachment of the devotee to a particular form of the Lord is due to natural inclination. Each and every living entity is originally attached to a particular type of transcendental service because he is eternally the servitor of the Lord. Lord Caitanya says that the living entity is eternally a servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, every living entity has a particular type of service relationship with the Lord, eternally. This particular attachment is invoked by practice of regulative devotional service to the Lord, and thus the devotee becomes attached to the eternal form of the Lord, exactly like one who is already eternally attached. This attachment for a particular form of the Lord is called svarūpa-siddhi.” (SB 3.9.11 purport)
“O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.” (3.9.11)
The Lord is the well-wisher of everyone and is actually in the hearts of all as Paramatma. However, he is unavailable for non-devotees. Although residing in their hearts, the Lord is invisible and unavailable to them. When Brahma says that the Lord takes a seat in the heart of his pure devotees, he is speaking about the direct presence of the Lord, which can be perceived by the devotee.
The Lord also reciprocates the prayers of demigods and others who approach Him with material desires, but He is not very satisfied with them. The reason is that the Lord doesn’t want any one of His sons (the living entities) to remain in the material world suffering from the threefold miseries. He wants everyone to go back to Godhead, but this is possible only when one comes to a platform of pure devotional service.
Still, Brahma concludes, anything that is done for the Lord, such as the performance of Vedic rituals, charity, austerities, offering of the results of one’s work, and so on is also beneficial, since such acts of religion never go in vain, helping one to gradually come to the platform of pure devotion.
What are the symptoms of pure devotees? Prabhupada explains:
“Pure devotees are not desirous of any material enjoyment, nor are they averse to it. They completely dovetail their desires with the desires of the Lord and perform nothing on their personal account. Arjuna is a good example. On his own sentiment, due to family affection, Arjuna did not want to fight, but finally, after hearing Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, he agreed to fight in the interests of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord is very much satisfied with pure devotees because they do not act for sense gratification but only in terms of the Lord’s desire.” (SB 3.9.12 purport)
Brahma is empowered to re-create the universe
Lord Brahma concludes his prayers by offering obeisances to the Lord and then requests the Lord to empower him to again create the universe the way it was before the devastation.
Before the appearance of Brahma, all the material elements that form the planets were resting in the abdomen of the Lord, together with all souls. Now, these elements are grouped around the Lotus flower, and the service of Brahma is to rearrange everything into the material creation.
“O object of my worship, I am born from the house of Your lotus navel for the purpose of creating the universe by Your mercy. All these planets of the universe were stationed within Your transcendental abdomen while You were enjoying sleep. Now, Your sleep having ended, Your eyes are open like blossoming lotuses in the morning.” (SB 3.9.21)
As we can see, the material elements are never transformed, but just permutated or reorganized into different forms. Everything starts with the spiritual energy of the Lord, His external potency, which is combined with another spiritual potency (time), resulting in the Mahat-tattva. By combining and recombining the different ingredients that compose it, the Lord creates the material elements, and these are in turn used by Brahma to create the material manifestation, which is joined by the innumerable souls. At the time of devastation, everything is again disassembled, and the energy returns to the Lord.
What makes it dificult for us to properly understand the Lord, His pastimes, His different energies, and even this material creation is the fact that we tend to consider everything in material terms, and thus we impose our false conceptions on all these topics.
Prabhupada makes this point in his purport:
“Impersonalists always think backwards. They think that because there is form in matter, spirit should be formless; because in matter there is sleep, in spirit there cannot be sleep; and because the sleeping of the Deity is accepted in arcanā worship, the arcanā is māyā. All these thoughts are basically material.”
Because of our material conceptions, we tend to think that the Lord is formless and impersonal, that spiritual existence is without activities, and so on. Under the same material concepts, we tend to think we are eternally conditioned in this material world, that we don’t have an eternal relationship with Krsna, and so on. The root cause for all these misconceptions is the same.
Brahma mentions that the Lord is the friend and soul of all living entities in the world, and He maintains all, for their ultimate happiness. There is an eternal, natural affection between the Lord and all His parts and parcels, and therefore the Lord wants all of us to return to our original eternal position, understanding that this is the only thing that can bring us ultimate happiness. For this reason, the Lord empowers Brahma, so the universe can be created, giving another opportunity for all of us to remember our eternal relationship with Him.
Understanding all of this, Brahma is prepared to be engaged in his work of creation, but he prays to the Lord that he may not be materially affected by this work and that he may be able to give up the false prestige of being the creator.
This is also an example to all of us since while living in this material world we get involved in different activities, that may make us forget the Lord. The only protection against that is to constantly pray to the Lord and invoke His protection. Prabhupada makes this point in his purport:
“Brahmā wants to be protected by the Lord because he has to contact many, many vicious living entities. An ordinary brāhmaṇa may fall from the brahma-tejas, or the power of brahminical excellence, due to his association with many fallen, conditioned souls. Brahmā, as the supermost brāhmaṇa, is afraid of such a falldown, and therefore he prays to the Lord for protection. This is a warning for one and all in the spiritual advancement of life. Unless one is sufficiently protected by the Lord, he may fall down from his spiritual position; therefore one has to pray constantly to the Lord for protection and the blessing to carry out one’s duty. Lord Caitanya also entrusted His missionary work to His devotees and assured them of His protection against the onslaught of material affection.” (SB 3.9.24)
The Lord accepts the prayers of Brahma and reveals that what he was asking had already been granted before. In other words, in each of his days, the Lord empowers Brahma to create the universe. Without this empowerment, the creation would not be possible. Similarly, we are empowered by the Lord to perform different activities and play different roles, but we should always remember that this all comes from the Lord. As Prabhupada mentions:
“One should not be puffed up because he is entrusted with certain executive work. Fortunate is he who is so entrusted, and if he is always fixed in the sense of being subordinate to the will of the Supreme, he is sure to come out successful in the discharge of his work.” (SB 3.9.29 purport)
The Lord blessed Brahma to perform the work of creation, seeing everything in connection with Him, and ultimately, as the fruit of this realization, become fully self-realized and return back home, back to Godhead.
“O Brahmā, when you are absorbed in devotional service, in the course of your creative activities, you will see Me in you and throughout the universe, and you will see that you yourself, the universe and the living entities are all in Me.
You will see Me in all living entities as well as all over the universe, just as fire is situated in wood. Only in that state of transcendental vision will you be able to be free from all kinds of illusion.
When you are free from the conception of gross and subtle bodies and when your senses are free from all influences of the modes of material nature, you will realize your pure form in My association. At that time you will be situated in pure consciousness.” (3.9.31-33)
The Lord also gives a benediction to us, saying that:
“Any human being who prays like Brahmā, and who thus worships Me, shall very soon be blessed with the fulfillment of all his desires, for I am the Lord of all benediction.” (SB 3.9.40)
In his purport, Prabhupada adds that “The prayers offered by Brahmā cannot be chanted by anyone who desires to fulfill his own sense gratification. Such prayers can be selected only by a person who wants to satisfy the Lord in His service.”