Devanagari
तत आत्मनि लोके च भक्तियुक्त: समाहित: ।
द्रष्टासि मां ततं ब्रह्यन्मयि लोकांस्त्वमात्मन: ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
tata ātmani loke ca
bhakti-yuktaḥ samāhitaḥ
draṣṭāsi māṁ tataṁ brahman
mayi lokāṁs tvam ātmanaḥ
Synonyms
tataḥ
—
thereafter
;
ātmani
—
in yourself
;
loke
—
in the universe
;
ca
—
also
;
bhakti
—
yuktaḥ — being situated in devotional service
;
samāhitaḥ
—
being completely absorbed
;
draṣṭā asi
—
you shall see
;
mām
—
Me
;
tatam
—
spread throughout
;
brahman
—
O Brahmā
;
mayi
—
in Me
;
lokān
—
all the universe
;
tvam
—
you
;
ātmanaḥ
—
the living entities .
Translation
O Brahmā, when you are absorbed in devotional service, in the course of your creative activities, you will see Me in you and throughout the universe, and you will see that you yourself, the universe and the living entities are all in Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O my son! Engaged with attention in bhakti, you will see me within your mind and spread in all the planets. And you will see all the planets and the jīvas in me.
The Lord replies to Brahma’s request that he not forget the Lord when he gets absorbed in creation. Engaged with concentration in bhakti, you will see me within yourself (ātmani) and in the world. And you will see within me all the planets such as earth and all the jīvas (ātmanaḥ), just as Yaśodā saw when I ate dirt. Or, during Kṛṣṇa’s appearance, you will see me spread out as the calves and cowherd boys and will see within me all the universes (lokān) and the four armed Visṇu forms (ātmanaḥ). Or you will see many forms of yourself, many Brahmās (ātmanaḥ), within me.
Purport
It is cited herein by the Lord that during his daytime Brahmā would see Him as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He would appreciate how the Lord expanded Himself into all the calves during His childhood at Vṛndāvana, he would know how Yaśodāmayī saw all the universes and planetary systems within the mouth of Kṛṣṇa during His playful childhood pastimes, and he would also see that there are many millions of Brahmās during the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Brahmā’s daytime. But all these manifestations of the Lord, appearing everywhere in His eternal, transcendental forms, cannot be understood by anyone but the pure devotees, who are always engaged in devotional service to the Lord and are fully absorbed in the Lord. The high qualifications of Brahmā are also indicated herein.