Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.12.48

śabda-brahmātmanas tasya

vyaktāvyaktātmanaḥ paraḥ

brahmāvabhāti vitato

nānā-śakty-upabṛḿhitaḥ

SYNONYMS

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; upabṛḿhitaḥ — invested with.

TRANSLATION

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.

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