Shloka 19
Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa (Brahmā-stuti) and the Restoration of Vraja’s Lunch Pastime
अजानतां त्वत्पदवीमनात्म- न्यात्मात्मना भासि वितत्य मायाम् । सृष्टाविवाहं जगतो विधान इव त्वमेषोऽन्त इव त्रिनेत्र: ॥ १९ ॥
ajānatāṁ tvat-padavīm anātmany ātmātmanā bhāsi vitatya māyām sṛṣṭāv ivāhaṁ jagato vidhāna iva tvam eṣo ’nta iva trinetraḥ
To those ignorant of Your true transcendental position, You seem to belong to the material world, manifesting Yourself by expanding Your inconceivable energy. Thus, for the universe’s creation You appear as Brahmā, for its maintenance as Viṣṇu, and for its annihilation as Trinetra, Śiva.
Although the impersonal Māyāvādī philosophers think that the demigods are illusory, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu are stated here to be expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are thus real. Indeed, they are the extraordinarily powerful controllers of the universe. The ultimate truth is a supreme and beautiful person, and thus throughout the creation of God we will always find the personal touch.
FAQs
It says that for those who do not know Krishna’s lotus-feet path, Krishna’s own māyā makes Him appear through the non-self (material identity), causing people to misread the Supreme as merely cosmic functions like creation and destruction.
Brahmā acknowledges that Krishna can appear as the cosmic roles people attribute to deities—creator, destroyer, and even Rudra—yet Krishna remains the one Supreme Reality behind all such manifestations.
By shifting identity from the “non-self” (body/ego) to devotion at Krishna’s lotus feet—regularly hearing, chanting, and remembering—one becomes less misled by appearances and gains clarity about life’s ultimate purpose.