FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.12.48

शब्दब्रह्मात्मनस्तस्य व्यक्ताव्यक्तात्मन: पर: । ब्रह्मावभाति विततो नानाशक्त्युपबृंहित: ॥ ४८ ॥
śabda-brahmātmanas tasya
[shabda-brahmaatmanas tasya]
vyaktāvyaktātmanaḥ paraḥ
[vyaktaavyaktaatmanah parah]
brahmāvabhāti vitato
[brahmaavabhaati vitato]
nānā-śakty-upabṛṁhitaḥ
[naanaa-shakty-upabrimhitah]
Word-for-word
śabda-brahma — transcendental sound ātmanaḥ — of the Supreme Lord tasya — His vyakta — manifested avyakta-ātmanaḥ — of the unmanifested paraḥ — transcendental brahmā — the Absolute avabhāti — completely manifested vitataḥ — distributing nānā — multifarious śakti — energies upabṛṁhitaḥ — invested with.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śabda-brahmātmanas tasya
śabda-brahma
transcendental sound
ātmanaḥ
of the Supreme Lord
tasya
His
vyaktāvyaktātmanaḥ paraḥ
vyakta
manifested
avyakta-ātmanaḥ
of the unmanifested
paraḥ
transcendental
brahmāvabhāti vitato
brahmā
the Absolute
avabhāti
completely manifested
vitataḥ
distributing
nānā-śakty-upabṛṁhitaḥ
nānā
multifarious
śakti
energies
upabṛṁhitaḥ
invested with.
Brahmā is the personal representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the source of transcendental sound and is therefore above the conception of manifested and unmanifested. Brahmā is the complete form of the Absolute Truth and is invested with multifarious energies.
Purport

The post of Brahmā is the highest responsible post within the universe, and it is offered to the most perfect personality of the universe. Sometimes the Supreme Personality of Godhead has to become Brahmā when there is no suitable living being to occupy the post. In the material world, Brahmā is the complete representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and transcendental sound, praṇava, comes from him. He is therefore invested with multifarious energies, from which all the demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuṇa are manifested. His transcendental value is not to be minimized, even though he exhibited a tendency to enjoy his own daughter. There is a purpose for the exhibition of such a tendency by Brahmā, and he is not to be condemned like an ordinary living entity.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Supreme Lord who is impersonal Brahman and the personal Lord filled with various śaktis, makes his appearance as Brahmā, whose body is composed of the Vedas, which is audible sound as vaikhari and inaudible as oṁ. This verse shows that Brahmā has extraordinary powers as a manifestation of the Lord. His body is composed of the Vedas (śabda-brahma). The Supreme Lord (paraḥ) appears as the worshipable object in the form of Brahmā whose body is the Vedas, manifested as external sound (vaikhari) and the unmanifested sound oṁ. That Lord is also manifested as Brahman, the object of impersonal jñāna, and as Bhagavān, the object of pure, personal knowledge, filled with many śaktis. Since Brahmā is non-different from the Lord, it is understood that he has not been contaminated by approaching his daughter.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The cosmology here is not abstract scenery — it locates the reader inside a vast, intelligent order. Seeing your tiny role in this design quietly cools the urge to make yourself the centre. Its centre of gravity is Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • Where have you been demanding outcomes from a system you did not design?
  • Which 'cosmic' problem are you trying to solve when your actual task is just to play your small part well?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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