| Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 9: Brahmā's Prayers for Creative Energy |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.14
śaśvat svarūpa-mahasaiva nipīta-bheda-
mohāya bodha-dhishanāya namah parasmai
viśvodbhava-sthiti-layeshu nimitta-līlā-
rāsāya te nama idam cakrimeśvarāya
SYNONYMS
śaśvat — eternally; svarūpa — transcendental form; mahasā — by the glories; eva — certainly; nipīta — distinguished; bheda — differentiation; mohāya — unto the illusory conception; bodha — self-knowledge; dhishanāya — intelligence; namah — obeisances; parasmai — unto the Transcendence; viśva-udbhava — creation of the cosmic manifestation; sthiti — maintenance; layeshu — also destruction; nimitta — for the matter of; līlā — by such pastimes; rāsāya — for enjoyment; te — unto You; namah — obeisances; idam — this; cakrima — do I perform; īśvarāya — unto the Supreme.
TRANSLATION
Let me offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Transcendence, who is eternally distinguished by His internal potency. His indistinguishable impersonal feature is realized by intelligence for self-realization. I offer my obeisances unto Him who by His pastimes enjoys the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation.
PURPORT
The Supreme Lord is eternally distinguished from the living entities by His internal potency, although He is also understood in His impersonal feature by self-realized intelligence. Devotees of the Lord, therefore, offer all respectful obeisances unto the impersonal feature of the Lord. The word rāsa is significant herein. The rāsa dance is performed by Lord Krishna in the company of the cowherd damsels at Vrindāvana, and the Personality of Godhead Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu is also engaged in rāsa enjoyment with His external potency, by which He creates, maintains and dissolves the entire material manifestation. Indirectly, Lord Brahmā offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Śrī Krishna, who is factually ever engaged in rāsa enjoyment with the gopīs, as confirmed in the Gopāla-tāpanī Upanishad in the following words: parārdhānte so 'budhyata gopa-veśo me purushah purastād āvirbabhūva. The distinction between the Lord and the living entity is definitely experienced when there is sufficient intelligence to understand His internal potency, as distinguished from the external potency by which He makes possible the material manifestation.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness