FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.12.3

दृष्ट्वा पापीयसीं सृष्टिं नात्मानं बह्वमन्यत । भगवद्ध्यानपूतेन मनसान्यां ततोऽसृजत् ॥ ३ ॥
dṛṣṭvā pāpīyasīṁ sṛṣṭiṁ
[drishtvaa paapeeyaseem srishtim]
nātmānaṁ bahv amanyata
[naatmaanam bahv amanyata]
bhagavad-dhyāna-pūtena
[bhagavad-dhyaana-pootena]
manasānyāṁ tato ’sṛjat
[manasaanyaam tato ’srijat]
dṛṣṭvā — by seeing pāpīyasīm — sinful sṛṣṭim — creation na — did not ātmānam — unto Himself bahu — much pleasure amanyata — felt bhagavat — on the Personality of Godhead dhyāna — meditation pūtena — purified by that manasā — by such a mentality anyām — another tataḥ — thereafter asṛjat — created.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
dṛṣṭvā pāpīyasīṁ sṛṣṭiṁ
dṛṣṭvā
by seeing
pāpīyasīm
sinful
sṛṣṭim
creation
nātmānaṁ bahv amanyata
na
did not
ātmānam
unto Himself
bahu
much pleasure
amanyata
felt
bhagavad-dhyāna-pūtena
bhagavat
on the Personality of Godhead
dhyāna
meditation
pūtena
purified by that
manasānyāṁ tato ’sṛjat
manasā
by such a mentality
anyām
another
tataḥ
thereafter
asṛjat
created.
Seeing such a misleading creation as a sinful task, Brahmā did not feel much pleasure in his activity, and therefore he purified himself by meditation on the Personality of Godhead. Then he began another term of creation.

Although he created the different influences of nescience, Lord Brahmā was not satisfied in performing such a thankless task, but he had to do it because most of the conditioned souls wanted it to be so. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) that He is present in everyone’s heart and is helping everyone to either remember of forget. The question may be raised why the Lord, who is all-merciful, helps one to remember and another to forget. Actually, His mercy is not exhibited in partiality towards one and enmity towards another. The living entity, as part and parcel of the Lord, is partially independent because he partially possesses all the qualities of the Lord. Anyone who has some independence may sometimes misuse it due to ignorance. When the living entity prefers to misuse his independence and glide down towards nescience, the all-merciful Lord first of all tries to protect him from the trap, but when the living entity persists in gliding down to hell, the Lord helps him to forget his real position. The Lord helps the falling living entity glide down to the lowest point, just to give him the chance to see if he is happy by misusing his independence.

Almost all the conditioned souls who are rotting in the material world are misusing their independence, and therefore five kinds of nescience are imposed upon them. As an obedient servitor of the Lord, Brahmā creates all these as a matter of necessity, but he is not happy in doing so because a devotee of the Lord naturally does not like to see anyone falling down from his real position. Persons who do not care for the path of realization get full facilities from the Lord for executing their proclivities to the fullest extent, and Brahmā helps in that procedure without fail.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Seeing the sinful nature of this creation, Brahmā was not satisfied with himself. He again carried out creation by a mind purified with meditation on the Lord. This and the following verses show who the functions of vidyā appeared in the form of the Kumāras and others from Brahmā, in order to show that knowledge or vidyā destroys ignorance or avidyā. Brahma and others who live for the whole of Brahmā’s life entered into the Supreme Lord at the end of the first half of Brahmā’s life (first parardha). Just as Brahmā appears from a lotus on the first day in the second half of his life as he did in the Pādma-kalpa (the previous day), Brahmā made the Kumāras and others appear at this time (though they actually live for Brahmā’s one hundred years.)
The scale of the creation in this verse is not given to overwhelm us but to right-size us. Most of our anxiety shrinks when our self-importance shrinks.
Reflection Questions
  • How does it change your day to remember the universe was not built around your preferences?
  • How could awe of the creation become a daily practice and not just a Sunday feeling?
📝 My note

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