SB 10.13.56

Devanāgarī

ततोऽतिकुतुकोद्‌वृत्यस्तिमितैकादशेन्द्रिय: । तद्धाम्नाभूदजस्तूष्णीं पूर्देव्यन्तीव पुत्रिका ॥ ५६ ॥

Text

tato ’tikutukodvṛtya- stimitaikādaśendriyaḥ tad-dhāmnābhūd ajas tūṣṇīṁ pūr-devy-antīva putrikā

Synonyms

tataḥ—then;atikutuka-udvṛtya-stimita-ekādaśa-indriyaḥ—whose eleven senses had all been jolted by great astonishment and then stunned by transcendental bliss;tad-dhāmnā—by the effulgence of thoseviṣṇu-mūrtis;abhūt—became;ajaḥ—Lord Brahmā;tūṣṇīm—silent;pūḥ-devī-anti—in the presence of a village deity (grāmya-devatā);iva—just as;putrikā—a clay doll made by a child.

Translation

Then, by the power of the effulgence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis, Lord Brahmā, his eleven senses jolted by astonishment and stunned by transcendental bliss, became silent, just like a child’s clay doll in the presence of the village deity.

Purport

Brahmā was stunned because of transcendental bliss ( muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ ). In his astonishment, all his senses were stunned, and he was unable to say or do anything. Brahmā had considered himself absolute, thinking himself the only powerful deity, but now his pride was subdued, and he again became merely one of the demigods — an important demigod, of course, but a demigod nonetheless. Brahmā, therefore, cannot be compared to God — Kṛṣṇa, or Nārāyaṇa. It is forbidden to compare Nārāyaṇa even to demigods like Brahmā and Śiva, what to speak of others.

yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ samatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam

“One who considers demigods like Brahmā and Śiva to be on an equal level with Nārāyaṇa must certainly be considered an offender.” We should not equate the demigods with Nārāyaṇa, for even Śaṅkarācārya has forbidden this ( nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt ). Also, as mentioned in the Vedas, eko nārāyaṇa āsīn na brahmā neśānaḥ: “In the beginning of creation there was only the Supreme Personality, Nārāyaṇa, and there was no existence of Brahmā or Śiva.” Therefore, one who at the end of his life remembers Nārāyaṇa attains the perfection of life ( ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ ).

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