Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.13.10

idaḿ bhagavatā pūrvaḿ

brahmaṇe nābhi-pańkaje

sthitāya bhava-bhītāya

kāruṇyāt samprakāśitam

SYNONYMS

idam — this; bhagavatā — by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pūrvam — first; brahmaṇe — to Brahmā; nābhi-pańkaje — upon the lotus growing from the navel; sthitāya — who was situated; bhava — of material existence; bhītāya — who was fearful; kāruṇyāt — out of mercy; samprakāśitam — was fully revealed.

TRANSLATION

It was to Lord Brahmā that the Supreme Personality of Godhead first revealed the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in full. At the time, Brahmā, frightened by material existence, was sitting on the lotus flower that had grown from the Lord's navel.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa enlightened Brahmā with the knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam before the creation of this universe, as indicated here by the word pūrvam. Also, the first verse of the Bhāgavatam states, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye: "Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded perfect knowledge into the heart of Lord Brahmā." Because conditioned souls can experience only temporary objects, which are created, maintained and destroyed, they cannot readily understand that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is an eternal, transcendental literature nondifferent from the Absolute Truth.

As stated in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.1.1):

brahmā devānāḿ prathamaḥ sambabhūva

viśvasya kartā bhuvanasya goptā

sa brahma-vidyāḿ sarva-vidyā-pratiṣṭhām

atharvāya jyeṣṭha-putrāya prāha

"Among all the demigods, Brahmā was the first to take birth. He is the creator of this universe and also its protector. To his eldest son, Atharvā, He instructed the spiritual science of the self, which is the basis of all other branches of knowledge." Despite his exalted position, however, Brahmā still fears the influence of the Lord's illusory potency. Thus this energy seems virtually insurmountable. But Lord Caitanya is so kind that during His missionary activities in eastern and southern India, He freely distributed Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone, urging them to become teachers of Bhagavad-gītā. Lord Caitanya, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, encouraged the people by saying, "By My order just become a teacher of Lord Kṛṣṇa's message and save this country. I assure you that the waves of māyā will never stop your progress." (Cc. Madhya 7.128)

If we give up all sinful activities and engage constantly in the sańkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, victory is assured in our personal lives and also in our missionary efforts.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari