Devanagari
तच्चेज्जलस्थं तव सज्जगद्वपु:
किं मे न दृष्टं भगवंस्तदैव ।
किं वा सुदृष्टं हृदि मे तदैव
किं नो सपद्येव पुनर्व्यदर्शि ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
tac cej jala-sthaṁ tava saj jagad-vapuḥ
kiṁ me na dṛṣṭaṁ bhagavaṁs tadaiva
kiṁ vā su-dṛṣṭaṁ hṛdi me tadaiva
kiṁ no sapady eva punar vyadarśi
Synonyms
tat
—
that
;
cet
—
if
;
jala
—
stham — situated upon the water
;
tava
—
Your
;
sat
—
real
;
jagat
—
sheltering the entire universe
;
vapuḥ
—
the transcendental body
;
kim
—
why
;
me
—
by me
;
na dṛṣṭam
—
was not seen
;
bhagavan
—
O Supreme Lord
;
tadā eva
—
at that very time
;
kim
—
why
;
vā
—
or
;
su
—
dṛṣṭam — perfectly seen
;
hṛdi
—
within the heart
;
me
—
by me
;
tadā eva
—
just then
;
kim
—
why
;
na
—
not
;
u
—
on the other hand
;
sapadi
—
suddenly
;
eva
—
indeed
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
vyadarśi
—
was seen .
Translation
My dear Lord, if Your transcendental body, which shelters the entire universe, is actually lying upon the water, then why were You not seen by me when I searched for You? And why, though I could not envision You properly within my heart, did You then suddenly reveal Yourself?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
My dear Lord, if Your transcendental body, which shelters the entire universe, is actually lying upon the water, then why were You not seen by me when I searched for You? And why, though I could not envision You properly within my heart, did You then suddenly reveal Yourself?
KB 10.14.15
Lord Brahmā reconfirmed his statement establishing Kṛṣṇa as the original Nārāyaṇa. He said that the Lord’s gigantic universal form is resting on the water known as Garbhodaka. He spoke as follows: “This gigantic universal form is another manifestation of Your energy. On account of His resting on the water, this universal form is also Nārāyaṇa, and we are all within the womb of this Nārāyaṇa form. I see Your different Nārāyaṇa forms everywhere. I can see You on the water, I can feel You within my heart, and I can also see You before me now. You are the original Nārāyaṇa.
Purport
Lord Brahmā here refers to his experience at the dawn of cosmic creation. As described in the Second Canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
Lord Brahmā took birth on the seat of a giant lotus whose stem emanated from the navel of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā was bewildered as to his whereabouts, function and identity, and therefore he tried to trace out the source of the lotus stem, searching for clear information. Unable to find the Personality of Godhead, he returned to his seat and engaged in severe austerities, having been ordered to do so by the transcendental voice of the Lord, who could be heard but not seen. After long meditation, Brahmā saw the Lord but then again lost sight of Him. Thus Brahmā concludes that the transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead is not material but rather an eternal, spiritual form endowed with inconceivable mystic potencies. In other words, Lord Brahmā should not have challenged the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of all mystic power.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Is it possible that this spiritual form arises from material water? It is not possible that this unlimited Narayana can be existing in the limited waters of garbhodaka."
"If that form is situated in the waters then why could I not find that form after searching for a long time in the lotus stem? You may answer that you were there, in the water but I could not see you. But then how is it that I could see you through meditation, but then suddenly could not see you in meditation? Though you are in the water and seem to be limited, you hold within you the universes and are therefore unlimited. You exists in all places at all times, but by the covering of your yoga maya potency you are sometimes visible and sometimes invisible."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Brahmā speculates in this verse. If this expansion of yours in the water is real and spiritual (sat) and is the embodiment of the universe, then why was that form not seen by me, the form of all jīvas, the embodiment of the whole universe? Why did I see you clearly only in my heart during samādhi with mature intelligence as a form with eternity, knowledge and bliss? This is described in the Third Canto:
nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam
ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ
O Supreme Lord! I do not see that you are different from your form as the Brahman which is without qualities and only bliss. SB 3.9.3
Why did I not see you again, externally?
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Brahmā elaborates on the true existence of the Lord. If you were situated on the water, why did I not see you by external vision? You appeared in my heart at that time, by following your order “tapa tapa,” only after long practice only (su-dṛṣtam). But even then the effort did not give the full effect. Why did you not appear to my external vision, and only in my heart?
And you did not appear again. This implies that after the Lord gave benedictions to Brahmā, and disappeared, Brahmā performed meditation again out of pain in separation in order to see him, but could even see him again in his heart, at that time (sapadi). This means that later the Lord spontaneously appeared in his heart. Or did you not appear later (punaḥ) with your beauty, ornaments and followers? Yes you did.
Like the Lord’s body, his pastimes, objects and water are all self-manifesting. Even though Nārāyaṇa is truly existing even when there is no water, and even if he is always without the water, because his pastimes are eternal, his associates and other objects are truly existing.