SB 3.8.15 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तल्लोकपद्मं स उ एव विष्णु: प्रावीविशत्सर्वगुणावभासम् । तस्मिन् स्वयं वेदमयो विधाता स्वयम्भुवं यं स्म वदन्ति सोऽभूत् ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

tal loka-padmaṁ sa u eva viṣṇuḥ prāvīviśat sarva-guṇāvabhāsam tasmin svayaṁ vedamayo vidhātā svayambhuvaṁ yaṁ sma vadanti so ’bhūt

Synonyms

tat — that ; loka — universal ; padmam — lotus flower ; saḥ — He ; u — certainly ; eva — factually ; viṣṇuḥ — the Lord ; prāvīviśat — entered into ; sarva — all ; guṇa — avabhāsam — reservoir of all modes of nature ; tasmin — in which ; svayam — in person ; veda — mayaḥ — the personality of Vedic wisdom ; vidhātā — controller of the universe ; svayam — bhuvam — self-born ; yam — whom ; sma — in the past ; vadanti — do say ; saḥ — he ; abhūt — generated .

Translation

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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O Vidura! Viṣṇu entered that lotus of all the planets, which reveals all the enjoyable objects for the jīvas. Brahmā, known as self-born, composer of the Vedas, appeared within that lotus. The particle u is used to address Vidura. That lotus made of all the planets, called the Vairāja, which, at the time of devastation, had entered a subtle state, now appeared, at the end of devastation, in the form of a lotus. Viṣṇu as antaryāmī entered that lotus. Prāvīviśat has the same meaning as prāviviśat. That lotus held within itself the manifestation of the effects of all the guṇas, Svarga and Nāraka, to be enjoyed by the jīvas. Brahmā appeared within that lotus. He is called self-born because he has no visible parentage. He was previously merged with Nārāyaṇa in sleep. When the Lord awoke, he appeared by means of the lotus. There is the gross form of Brahmā, called Vairāja (the lotus of the planets). There is the subtle form is called Hiraṇyagarbha. There is also four-headed Brahmā, the creator (who appeared from the lotus at this time). Thus there are three forms of Brahmā. [Note: Rūpa Gosvāmī in Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta gives only two forms of Brahmā. Hiraṇyagarbha is the subtle form made of mahat-tattva, is aggregate of the jīvas and Vairāja is the gross form made of the aggregate of elements, with four heads, who creates. According to Vśvanātha, the Vairāja is the aggregate of the elements and planets, and the four headed Brahmā creates.]

Purport

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.