SB 6.4.50 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स वै यदा महादेवो मम वीर्योपबृंहित: । मेने खिलमिवात्मानमुद्यत: स्वर्गकर्मणि ॥ ४९ ॥ अथ मेऽभिहितो देवस्तपोऽतप्यत दारुणम् । नव विश्वसृजो युष्मान् येनादावसृजद्विभु: ॥ ५० ॥

Verse text

sa vai yadā mahādevo mama vīryopabṛṁhitaḥ mene khilam ivātmānam udyataḥ svarga-karmaṇi atha me ’bhihito devas tapo ’tapyata dāruṇam nava viśva-sṛjo yuṣmān yenādāv asṛjad vibhuḥ

Synonyms

saḥ — that Lord Brahmā ; vai — indeed ; yadā — when ; mahā — devaḥ — the chief of all the demigods ; mama — My ; vīrya — upabṛṁhitaḥ — being increased by the potency ; mene — thought ; khilam — incapable ; iva — as if ; ātmānam — himself ; udyataḥ — attempting ; svarga — karmaṇi — in the creation of the universal affairs ; atha — at that time ; me — by Me ; abhihitaḥ — advised ; devaḥ — that Lord Brahmā ; tapaḥ — austerity ; atapyata — performed ; dāruṇam — extremely difficult ; nava — nine ; viśva — sṛjaḥ — important personalities to create the universe ; yuṣmān — all of you ; yena — by whom ; ādau — in the beginning ; asṛjat — created ; vibhuḥ — the great .

Translation

When the chief lord of the universe, Lord Brahmā [Svayambhū], having been inspired by My energy, was attempting to create, he thought himself incapable. Therefore I gave him advice, and in accordance with My instructions he underwent extremely difficult austerities. Because of these austerities, the great Lord Brahmā was able to create nine personalities, including you, to help him in the functions of creation.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When the chief lord of the universe, Lord Brahmā, endowed with my energy, was attempting to create, and thought himself incapable, he underwent extreme austerities as advised by me. Because of these austerities, Brahmā created nine persons, including you, to help him in the functions of creation. Khilam means incapable. I told him to perform austerities. By that austerity (yena) he created nine persons.

Purport

Nothing is possible without tapasya. Lord Brahmā, however, was empowered to create this entire universe because of his austerities. The more we engage in austerities, the more we become powerful by the grace of the Lord. Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva advised His sons, tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyed: “One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified.” ( Bhāg. 5.5.1 ) In our material existence we are impure, and therefore we cannot do anything wonderful, but if we purify our existence by tapasya, we can do wonderful things by the grace of the Lord. Therefore tapasya is very important, as stressed in this verse.