SB 3.4.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

पुरा मया प्रोक्तमजाय नाभ्ये पद्मे निषण्णाय ममादिसर्गे । ज्ञानं परं मन्महिमावभासं यत्सूरयो भागवतं वदन्ति ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

purā mayā proktam ajāya nābhye padme niṣaṇṇāya mamādi-sarge jṣānaṁ paraṁ man-mahimāvabhāsaṁ yat sūrayo bhāgavataṁ vadanti

Synonyms

purā — in the days of yore ; mayā — by Me ; proktam — was said ; ajāya — unto Brahmā ; nābhye — out of the navel ; padme — on the lotus ; niṣaṇṇāya — unto the one situated on ; mama — My ; ādi — sarge — in the beginning of creation ; jṣānam — knowledge ; param — sublime ; mat — mahimā — My transcendental glories ; avabhāsam — that which clarifies ; yat — which ; sūrayaḥ — the great learned sages ; bhāgavatam — Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ; vadanti — do say .

Translation

O Uddhava, in the lotus millennium in the days of yore, at the beginning of the creation, I spoke unto Brahmā, who is situated on the lotus that grows out of My navel, about My transcendental glories, which the great sages describe as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Previously at the beginning of creation, I spoke to Brahmā sitting on his lotus in lake of my navel the highest knowledge--which reveals my pastimes, and which the devotees call the four essential verses of Bhāgavatam. Here the Lord describes what he promised to give Uddhava. Adi-sarge means the first day of Brahmā’s life. [Note: See SB 2.8.28.] I spoke that knowledge which reveals my pastimes (man-mahimā). This meaning of mahimā is according to Śrīdhara Svāmī. Others say mahimā means glories. The Bhāgavatam refers to the four essential verses.

Purport

The explanation of the Supreme Self, as given to Brahmā and already explained in the Second Canto of this great literature, is further clarified herein. The Lord said that the concise form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as explained to Brahmā was meant to elucidate His personality. The impersonal explanation of those four verses in the Second Canto is nullified herewith. Śrīdhara Svāmī also explains in this connection that the same concise form of the Bhāgavatam concerned the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa and was never meant for impersonal indulgence.