Devanagari
श्रीब्रह्मोवाच
भूमेर्भारावताराय पुरा विज्ञापित: प्रभो ।
त्वमस्माभिरशेषात्मन्तत्तथैवोपपादितम् ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
śrī-brahmovāca
bhūmer bhārāvatārāya
purā vijṣāpitaḥ prabho
tvam asmābhir aśeṣātman
tat tathaivopapāditam
Synonyms
śrī
—
brahmā uvāca — Śrī Brahmā said
;
bhūmeḥ
—
of the earth
;
bhāra
—
the burden
;
avatārāya
—
for the sake of diminishing
;
purā
—
previously
;
vijṣāpitaḥ
—
were requested
;
prabho
—
O Lord
;
tvam
—
You
;
asmābhiḥ
—
by us
;
aśeṣa
—
ātman — O unlimited Soul of all
;
tat
—
that (request)
;
tathā eva
—
just as expressed by us
;
upapāditam
—
was fulfilled .
Translation
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, previously we requested You to remove the burden of the earth. O unlimited Personality of Godhead, that request has certainly been fulfilled.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahmā said: O Lord! Previously we requested you to remove the burden of the earth. O unlimited Lord! That request has certainly been fulfilled.
“But you requested Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, not me.” You are unlimited! You are the source of all the avatāras! That Viṣṇu form is also part of your svarūpa.
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa might have said to the demigods, “Actually, you requested Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu to come down, so why are you saying that you requested Me? After all, I am Govinda.” Therefore Brahmā has addressed the Lord here as
aśeṣātmā,
or the unlimited Personality of Godhead from whom all plenary expansions of Viṣṇu emanate. This is the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.