A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
TEXT 1
TRANSLATION
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said,
O King, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in
pure consciousness with the material body. It is just like the dreamer
seeing his own body working.
TEXT 2
TRANSLATION
The illusioned living entity
appears in so many forms which are offered by the external energy of the
Lord, and the encaged living entity, while enjoying in the modes of material
nature, misconceives, thinking in terms of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
TEXT 3
TRANSLATION
As soon as the living entity
becomes situated in his constitutional glory and begins to enjoy the transcendence
beyond time and material energy, he at once gives up the two misconceptions
of life [mine and I] and thus becomes fully manifested as the pure self.
TEXT 4
TRANSLATION
O King, the Personality of
Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahma because of his nondeceptive
penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before
Brahma. And that is the objective goal for purifying the conditioned
soul.
TEXT 5
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma, the first spiritual
master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his
lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could
not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he
find out the process for such creation.
TEXT 6
TRANSLATION
While thus engaged in thinking,
in the water, Brahmaji heard twice from nearby two syllables joined together.
One of the syllables was taken from the sixteenth and the other from the
twenty-first of the sparsa alphabets, and both joined to become the wealth
of the renounced order of life.
TEXT 7
TRANSLATION
When he heard the sound,
he tried to find out the speaker, searching on all sides. But when
he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to sit
down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of
penance, as he was instructed.
TEXT 8
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma underwent penances
for one thousand years by the calculations of the demigods. He heard
this transcendental vibration from the sky, and he accepted it as divine.
Thus he controlled his mind and senses, and the penances which he executed
were a great lesson for the living entities. Thus he is known as
the greatest of all ascetics.
TEXT 9
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead,
being thus very much satisfied with the penance of Lord Brahma, was pleased
to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuntha, the supreme planet above all
others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all self-realized
persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fearfulness of illusory existence.
TEXT 10
TRANSLATION
In that personal abode of
the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor
is there any of their influence in the matter of goodness. There
is no predominace of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory
external energy that cannot enter in that region. Without discrimination,
both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.
TEXT 11
TRANSLATION
The inhabitants of the Vaikuntha
planets are described as having a glowing sky-bluish complexion.
Their eyes resemble the lotus flower, their dress is of yellowish color
and their bodily features very attractive. They are just the age
of growing youths, they all have four hands, they are all nicely decorated
with pearl necklaces with ornamental medallions, and they all appear to
be effulgent.
TEXT 12
TRANSLATION
Some of them are effulgent
like the coral and diamond in complexion and have garlands on their heads,
blooming like the lotus flowers, and some wear earrings.
TEXT 13
TRANSLATION
The Vaikuntha planets are
also surrounded by various airplanes, all glowing and brilliantly situated,
belonging to the great mahatmas or devotees of the Lord. The ladies
also are a s beautiful as lightning because of their celestial complexions,
and all these combined together appear just like the sky decorated with
both clouds and lightning.
TEXT 14
TRANSLATION
The goddess of fortune in
her transcendental form is engaged in the loving service of the Lord’s
lotus feet, and being moved by the black bees, followers of spring, she
is not only engaged in variegated pleasure-service to the Lord, along with
her constant companions-but also she is engaged in singing the glories
of the Lord’s activities.
TEXT 15
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma saw in the Vaikuntha
planet the Personality of Godhead, who is the Lord of the entire devotee
community, the Lord of the goddess of fortune,, the Lord of all sacrifices,
and the Lord of the universe, and who served by the foremost servitors
like Nanda, Sunanda, Prabala, and Arhana, the His immediate associates.
TEXT 16
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead,
seen leaning favorably towards His loving servitors, His very sight intoxicating
and attractive, appeared to be very much satisfied. He had a smiling
face decorated with an enchanting reddish hue. He was dressed in
yellow robes and wore earrings and a helmet on his head. He had four
hands, and His chest was marked with the lines of the goddess of fortune.
TEXT 17
TRANSLATION
The Lord was seated on His
throne and was surrounded by different energies like the four, the sixteen,
the five, and the six natural opulences, along with other insignificant
energies of the temporary character. But He was the factual Supreme
Lord, enjoying His own abode.
TEXT 18
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma, thus seeing
the Personality of Godhead in His fullness, became overwhelmed with joy
within his heart, and thus in full transcendental love and ecstasy, his
eyes became full with tears of love. He thus bowed down before the
Lord. That is the way of highest perfection for the living being
[paramahamsa].
TEXT 19
TRANSLATION
And seeing Brahma present
before Him, the Lord accepted him as worthy to create living beings, to
be controlled as He desired and thus being much satisfied with him, the
Lord shook hands with Brahma and, slightly smiling, addressed him thus.
TEXT 20
TRANSLATION
The beautiful Personality
of Godhead addressed Lord Brahma, O Brahma, impregnated with the Vedas,
I am very much pleased with your long accumulated penance with the desire
for creation. Hardly am I pleased with the pseudo mystics.
TEXT 21
TRANSLATION
I wish you good luck.
O Brahman, you can ask from Me, the giver of all benediction, all that
you may desire. You may know that the ultimate benediction, as the
result of all penances, is to see Me by realization.
TEXT 22
TRANSLATION
The highest perfectional
ingenuity is the personal perception of My abodes, and this has been possible
because of your submissive attitude in the performance of severe penance
on My order.
TEXT 23
TRANSLATION
O Brahma, the sinless, you
may know from Me that it was I who ordered you to undergo penance at first
on your being perplexed in your duty, because such penance is My heart
and soul, and because of that, penance and I are nondifferent.
TEXT 24
TRANSLATION
I create this cosmos by such
penance, I maintain it by the same energy, and I withdraw it all by the
same energy. Therefore the potential power is penance only.
TEXT 25
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma said, O Personality
of Godhead, You are situated in every living entity’s heart as the supreme
director, and therefore You are aware of all endeavors by Your superior
intelligence, without any hindrance whatsoever.
TEXT 26
TRANSLATION
In spite of that, my Lord,
I am praying to You, kindly to fulfill my desire. May I please be
informed how, in spite of Your transcendental form, You assume the mundane
form, although You have no such form at all.
TEXT 27
TRANSLATION
And how You, by Your own
Self, manifest different energies for annihilation, generation, acceptance
and maintenance by combination and permutation.
TEXT 28
TRANSLATION
O master of all energies,
please tell me philosophically all about them. You play like the
spider who covers itself by its own energy, and Your determination is infallible.
TEXT 29
TRANSLATION
Please tell me so that I
may be taught in the matter by the instruction of the Personality of Godhead,
and thus I may act instrumentally to generate living entities, without
being conditioned by such activites.
TEXT 30
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, the unborn, You
have shaken hands with me just like a friend does with a friend [as if
equal in position]. I shall be engaged in the creation of different
types of living entities, and I shall be occupied in Your service.
I shall have no perturbation, but I pray that all this may not give rise
to pride, as if I were the Supreme.
TEXT 31
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead
said, Knowledge about Me as described in the scriptures is very confidential,
and it has to be realized in conjunction with devotional service.
The necessary paraphernalia for that process is being explained by Me.
You may take it up carefully.
TEXT 32
TRANSLATION
All of Me, namely My actual
eternal form, My transcendental existence, color, qualities and activities
- let all be awakened within you by factual realization, out of My causeless
mercy.
TEXT 33
TRANSLATION
Brahma, it is I, the Personality
of Godhead, who was existing before the creation when there was nothing
but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this
creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead,
and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of
Godhead.
TEXT 34
TRANSLATION
O Brahman, whatever appears
to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality.
Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.
TEXT 35
TRANSLATION
O Brahma, please know that
the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not
enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything
created, and at the same I am outside of everything.
TEXT 36
TRANSLATION
A person who is searching
after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, has to search
it out up to this, certainly in all circumstances, and in all space and
time, and both directly and indirectly.
TEXT 37
TRANSLATION
O Brahma, just follow this
conclusion by fixed concentration of mind, and no pride will disturb you,
neither in the partial nor final devastations.
TEXT 38
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Hari, after being seen in His transcendental form, instructing
Brahmaji, the leader of the living entities, disappeared, said Sukadeva
Gosvami to Maharaja Pariksit.
TEXT 39
TRANSLATION
On the disappearance of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is the object of transcendental
enjoyment for the senses of devotees, Brahma, with folded hands, began
to recreate the universe full with living entities, as it was previously.
TEXT 40
TRANSLATION
Thus once upon a time the
forefather of living entities and the father of religiousness, Lord Brahma,
situated himself in the acts of regulative principles, desiring self-interest
for the welfare of all living entities.
TEXT 41
TRANSLATION
Narada, the most dear of
the inheritor sons of Brahma, always ready to serve his father, strictly
follows the instruction of his father by his mannerly behavior, meekness
and sense control.
TEXT 42
TRANSLATION
Narada very much pleased
his father and desired to know all about the energies of Visnu, the master
of all energies, for he [Narada] was the greatest of all sages and greatest
of all devotees, O King.
TEXT 43
TRANSLATION
The great sage Narada also
inquired in detail from his father Brahma, the great-grandfather of all
the universe, after seeing him well satisfied.
TEXT 44
TRANSLATION
Thereupon the supplementary
Vedic literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was described by the Personality
of Godhead and contains ten characteristics, was told by the father [Brahma]
to his son Narada with satisfaction.
TEXT 45
TRANSLATION
In succession, O King, the
great sage, Narada, instructed Srimad-Bhagavatam unto the unlimitedly powerful
Vyasadeva, who mediated in devotional service upon the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, on the bank of the River Sarasvati.
TEXT 46
TRANSLATION
O King, your questions as to how the universe became manifested from the gigantic form of the Personality of Godhead, as well as other questions, I shall answer in detail by the explanation of the four verses already mentioned.