Shloka 18
Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa (Brahmā-stuti) and the Restoration of Vraja’s Lunch Pastime
अद्यैव त्वदृतेऽस्य किं मम न ते मायात्वमादर्शित- मेकोऽसि प्रथमं ततो व्रजसुहृद्वत्सा: समस्ता अपि । तावन्तोऽसि चतुर्भुजास्तदखिलै: साकं मयोपासिता- स्तावन्त्येव जगन्त्यभूस्तदमितं ब्रह्माद्वयं शिष्यते ॥ १८ ॥
adyaiva tvad ṛte ’sya kiṁ mama na te māyātvam ādarśitam eko ’si prathamaṁ tato vraja-suhṛd-vatsāḥ samastā api tāvanto ’si catur-bhujās tad akhilaiḥ sākaṁ mayopāsitās tāvanty eva jaganty abhūs tad amitaṁ brahmādvayaṁ śiṣyate
Have You not shown me today that You Yourself and everything within creation are manifestations of Your inconceivable potency? First You appeared alone; then You became all the calves and cowherd boys of Vraja, Your friends; next You appeared as the same number of four-armed Viṣṇu forms, worshiped by all beings, including me; then as the same number of complete universes; and finally You returned to Your limitless form as the Supreme Absolute Truth, one without a second.
As stated in the Vedic literature, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: everything that exists is an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus everything is ultimately part and parcel of the Lord’s spiritual existence. By Lord Kṛṣṇa’s causeless mercy, Lord Brahmā personally experienced that all existence, being the potency of God, is nondifferent from Him.
FAQs
It teaches that Kṛṣṇa’s māyā is inconceivable: He can remain one and yet expand into all beings and even countless universes, revealing that everything rests in Him and that He ultimately remains the nondual Absolute.
After attempting to test Kṛṣṇa by stealing the calves and cowherd boys, Brahmā witnessed Kṛṣṇa expand into identical forms and then into countless universes; humbled, he offered prayers admitting his insignificance and Kṛṣṇa’s supreme, unlimited nature.
By cultivating humility and surrender—recognizing personal limits of intellect, trusting Kṛṣṇa’s supreme control, and practicing bhakti (hearing, chanting, remembering) rather than trying to “control” the Divine through ego or speculation.