Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.4.45

brahmā bhavo bhavantaś ca

manavo vibudheśvarāḥ

vibhūtayo mama hy etā

bhūtānāḿ bhūti-hetavaḥ

SYNONYMS

brahmā — Lord Brahmā; bhavaḥ — Lord Śiva; bhavantaḥ — all of you prajāpatis; ca — and; manavaḥ — the Manus; vibudha-īśvarāḥ — all the different demigods (such as the sun, the moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, who are all in charge of various activities for the welfare of the world); vibhūtayaḥ — expansions of energy; mama — My; hi — indeed; etāḥ — all these; bhūtānām — of all the living entities; bhūti — of welfare; hetavaḥ — causes.

TRANSLATION

Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, the Manus, all the other demigods in the higher planetary systems, and you prajāpatis, who are increasing the population, are working for the benefit of all living entities. Thus you expansions of My marginal energy are incarnations of My various qualities.

PURPORT

There are various types of incarnations or expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The expansions of His personal self, or viṣṇu-tattva, are called svāḿśa expansions, whereas the living entities, who are not viṣṇu-tattva but jīva-tattva, are called vibhinnāḿśa, separated expansions. Although Prajāpati Dakṣa is not on the same level as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, he is compared to them because he engages in the service of the Lord. In the service of the Personality of Godhead, it is not that Lord Brahmā is considered very great while an ordinary human being trying to preach the glories of the Lord is considered very low. There are no such distinctions. Regardless of whether materially high or materially low, anyone engaged in the service of the Lord is spiritually very dear to Him. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya gives this quotation from the Tantra-nirṇaya:

viśeṣa-vyakti-pātratvād

brahmādyās tu vibhūtayaḥ

tad-antaryāmiṇaś caiva

matsyādyā vibhavāḥ smṛtāḥ

From Lord Brahmā down, all the living entities engaged in the service of the Lord are extraordinary and are called vibhūti. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.41):

yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaḿ

śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā

tat tad evāvagaccha tvaḿ

mama tejo-'ḿśa-sambhavam

"Know that all beautiful, glorious and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor." A living entity especially empowered to act on behalf of the Lord is called vibhūti, whereas the viṣṇu-tattva incarnations of the Lord, such as the Matsya avatāra (keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagad-īśa hare), are called vibhava.

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