Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.23

janu-dvayam jalaja-locanaya jananya

lakshmyakhilasya sura-vanditaya vidhatuh

urvor nidhaya kara-pallava-rocisha yat

samlalitam hridi vibhor abhavasya kuryat

SYNONYMS

janu-dvayam -- up to the knees; jalaja-locanaya -- lotus-eyed; jananya -- mother; lakshmya -- by Lakshmi; akhilasya -- of the entire universe; sura-vanditaya -- worshiped by the demigods; vidhatuh -- of Brahma; urvoh -- at the thighs; nidhaya -- having placed; kara-pallava-rocisha -- with her lustrous fingers; yat -- which; samlalitam -- massaged; hridi -- in the heart; vibhoh -- of the Lord; abhavasya -- transcendental to material existence; kuryat -- one should meditate.

TRANSLATION

The yogi should fix in his heart the activities of Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by all demigods and is the mother of the supreme person, Brahma. She can always be found massaging the legs and thighs of the transcendental Lord, very carefully serving Him in this way.

PURPORT

Brahma is the appointed lord of the universe. Because his father is Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, is automatically his mother. Lakshmiji is worshiped by all demigods and by the inhabitants of other planets as well. Human beings are also eager to receive favor from the goddess of fortune. Lakshmi is always engaged in massaging the legs and thighs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Narayana, who is lying on the ocean of Garbha within the universe. Brahma is described here as the son of the goddess of fortune, but actually he was not born of her womb. Brahma takes his birth from the abdomen of the Lord Himself. A lotus flower grows from the abdomen of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, and Brahma is born there. Therefore Lakshmiji's massaging of the thighs of the Lord should not be taken as the behavior of an ordinary wife. The Lord is transcendental to the behavior of the ordinary male and female. The word abhavasya is very significant, for it indicates that He could produce Brahma without the assistance of the goddess of fortune.

Since transcendental behavior is different from mundane behavior, it should not be taken that the Lord receives service from His wife just as a demigod or human being might receive service from his wife. It is advised here that the yogi always keep this picture in his heart. The devotee always thinks of this relationship between Lakshmi and Narayana; therefore he does not meditate on the mental plane as impersonalists and voidists do.

Bhava means "one who accepts a material body," and abhava means "one who does not accept a material body but descends in the original, spiritual body." Lord Narayana is not born of anything material. Matter is generated from matter, but He is not born of matter. Brahma is born after the creation, but since the Lord existed before the creation, the Lord has no material body.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness