Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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jala-stham
—
situated upon the water
Compound: jala (water) + stha (situated). Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lying on the causal ocean. Brahmā searched there and could not see; the search-method is exposed as inadequate.
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bhagavan
—
O possessor of all opulences
Vocative of bhagavat — possessor of bhaga (six opulences in full). The title of the highest realization. Brahmā uses it not to flatter but to identify the very entity whose realization eluded him: I had Your name but not Your darśana.
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su-dṛṣṭam
—
well seen
Compound: su (well) + dṛṣṭa (seen). Brahmā confesses his perception was not su-dṛṣṭa — yogic vision can be amplified but is not su- without bhakti. The 'su' qualifier is doctrinally heavy here.
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vyadarśi
—
(You) became revealed
Passive aorist of vi-√dṛś. The grammatical voice is decisive: Brahmā does not say 'I saw You'; he says 'You were caused to be seen.' Darśana is given, not taken. The bedrock Gauḍīya epistemology of revelation.
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sapadi
—
suddenly
Adverb — 'at once, in a moment'. The temporality of grace. No gradual ladder; one moment nothing, the next moment Kṛṣṇa. The same word the Bhāgavatam will use for Putana's deliverance and for Ajāmila's vision.
Lord Brahmā here refers to his experience at the dawn of cosmic creation. As described in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā took birth on the seat of a giant lotus whose stem emanated from the navel of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā was bewildered as to his whereabouts, function and identity, and therefore he tried to trace out the source of the lotus stem, searching for clear information. Unable to find the Personality of Godhead, he returned to his seat and engaged in severe austerities, having been ordered to do so by the transcendental voice of the Lord, who could be heard but not seen. After long meditation, Brahmā saw the Lord but then again lost sight of Him. Thus Brahmā concludes that the transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead is not material but rather an eternal, spiritual form endowed with inconceivable mystic potencies. In other words, Lord Brahmā should not have challenged the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of all mystic power.
"Is it possible that this spiritual form arises from material water? It is not possible that this unlimited Narayana can be existing in the limited waters of garbhodaka." "If that form is situated in the waters then why could I not find that form after searching for a long time in the lotus stem? You may answer that you were there, in the water but I could not see you. But then how is it that I could see you through meditation, but then suddenly could not see you in meditation? Though you are in the water and seem to be limited, you hold within you the universes and are therefore unlimited. You exists in all places at all times, but by the covering of your yoga maya potency you are sometimes visible and sometimes invisible."
Brahmā speculates in this verse. If this expansion of yours in the water is real and spiritual (sat) and is the embodiment of the universe, then why was that form not seen by me, the form of all jīvas, the embodiment of the whole universe? Why did I see you clearly only in my heart during samādhi with mature intelligence as a form with eternity, knowledge and bliss? This is described in the Third Canto: nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ O Supreme Lord! I do not see that you are different from your form as the Brahman which is without qualities and only bliss. SB 3.9.3 Why did I not see you again, externally?
Brahmā elaborates on the true existence of the Lord. If you were situated on the water, why did I not see you by external vision? You appeared in my heart at that time, by following your order “tapa tapa,” only after long practice only (su-dṛṣtam). But even then the effort did not give the full effect. Why did you not appear to my external vision, and only in my heart? And you did not appear again. This implies that after the Lord gave benedictions to Brahmā, and disappeared, Brahmā performed meditation again out of pain in separation in order to see him, but could even see him again in his heart, at that time (sapadi). This means that later the Lord spontaneously appeared in his heart. Or did you not appear later (punaḥ) with your beauty, ornaments and followers? Yes you did. Like the Lord’s body, his pastimes, objects and water are all self-manifesting. Even though Nārāyaṇa is truly existing even when there is no water, and even if he is always without the water, because his pastimes are eternal, his associates and other objects are truly existing.
- NRM SB 10-14-15-21
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-14-15 Oriya
- Sarvabhauma Pr SB 10-14-15 - 2021-12-27 ISKCON Vrindavan
- Bhanu Sw SB 10-14-15 - Mercy is more prominent than endeavor for the revelation of the form of Lord - ISKCON Chennai
- BKG SB 10-14-15 - Our austerity is bringing others to Krishna Consciousness - 2019-03-26 Suva
- PrahladAnS SB 10-14-15 - Chant Sincerely - 2024-04-10 ISKCON Slovenia
- PrahladAnS SB 10-14-15 Slovenian Translation - Mantraj iskreno - 2024-04-10 ISKCON Slovenia
- Where am I exhausting myself searching, when the next step is to wait quietly for revelation?
- What past moment of unexpected grace can I lean on as evidence that the Lord initiates these meetings?
A child searches the room for his mother, who is sitting right behind him; he turns and turns and never sees her until she taps his shoulder. Brahmā, looking on the causal waters for the Lord whose body those waters cover, did not find Him — and then suddenly was found. Bhagavān is not located by the seeker; He locates the seeker.
My note
Source: vedabase.io