Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.18.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
The conception of many gods in the Vedic literatures by the ignorant is completely wrong. The Lord is one without a second, but He expands Himself in many ways, and this is confirmed in the Vedas. Such expansions of the Lord are limitless, but some of them are the living entities. The living entities are not as powerful as the Lord’s plenary expansions, and therefore there are two different types of expansions. Lord Brahmā is generally one of the living entities, and Lord Śiva is the medium between the Lord and the living entities. In other words, even demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, who are the chief amongst all demigods, are never equal to or greater than Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, and all-powerful demigods like Brahmā and Śiva are engaged in the worship of Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore who can be more powerful than Mukunda (Lord Kṛṣṇa) to be factually called the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmījī, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are not independently powerful; they are powerful as expansions of the Supreme Lord, and all of them are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and so also are the living entities. There are four sects of worshipful devotees of the Lord, and the chief amongst them are the Brahma sampradāya, Rudra sampradāya and Śrī sampradāya, descending directly from Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, respectively. Besides the above-mentioned three sampradāyas, there is the Kumāra sampradāya, descending from Sanat-kumāra. All of the four original sampradāyas are still scrupulously engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord up to date, and they all declare that Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no other personality is equal to Him or greater than Him.
The water which flows from the toenail of the Lord, which acts as arghya water (arhaṇa) for Brahmā for worship (upahṛta), purified the whole universe along with Śiva (seśam). The meaning of the word Bhagavān cannot apply to anyone except Mukunda. He is the Lord of everyone. Since the most elevated persons in the universe — Lakṣmī, Brahmā and Śiva — serve his feet, they point out that he is supreme.
- Jananivas Pr SB 01-18-21 - 2005-10-27
- Sesa Pr SB 01-18-21 - The four sampradays - 2012-04-06 ISKCON Gainesville
- Amal Bhakta Sw SB 01-18-21 - 2019-10-17 Los Angeles
- Bhakti Vikas Sw SB 01-18-21 Bengali - 2005-10-27 Mayapur
- KavichandraSw SB 01-18-21
- Subhag Sw SB 01-18-21 - Krsna Is Supreme - 1998-10-16 Aukland
- 2012-04-06 SB 01-18-21 - The four sampradays - Sesa Pr ISKCON Gainesville
- Where do I unsettle the hierarchy by my own pride?
- What would 'collecting water from His feet' look like in my devotion?
My note
Source: vedabase.io