Shloka 2
Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa (Brahmā-stuti) and the Restoration of Vraja’s Lunch Pastime
अस्यापि देव वपुषो मदनुग्रहस्य स्वेच्छामयस्य न तु भूतमयस्य कोऽपि । नेशे महि त्ववसितुं मनसान्तरेण साक्षात्तवैव किमुतात्मसुखानुभूते: ॥ २ ॥
asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya svecchā-mayasya na tu bhūta-mayasya ko ’pi neśe mahi tv avasituṁ manasāntareṇa sākṣāt tavaiva kim utātma-sukhānubhūteḥ
My Lord, neither I nor anyone else can measure the potency of Your transcendental body, which has shown mercy to me and appears by Your own will to fulfill the desires of Your pure devotees, not being made of material elements. Though my mind is withdrawn from worldly matters, I still cannot comprehend Your personal form—how then could I understand the inner bliss You experience within Yourself?
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter Fourteen, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that in the present verse Lord Brahmā expressed the following prayerful sentiment: “Your appearance as a cowherd child is for the benefit of the devotees, and although I have committed an offense at Your lotus feet by stealing away Your boys and calves, I can understand that You have bestowed Your mercy upon me. That is Your transcendental quality: You are very affectionate toward Your devotees. But in spite of Your great affection for me, I cannot estimate the potency of Your bodily activities. It is to be understood that when I, Lord Brahmā, the supreme personality of this universe, cannot estimate the childlike body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then what to speak of others? And if I cannot estimate the spiritual potency of Your childlike body, then what can I understand about Your transcendental pastimes? Therefore, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, anyone who can understand a little of the transcendental pastimes, appearance and disappearance of the Lord immediately becomes eligible to enter the kingdom of God after quitting the material body. This statement is confirmed in the Vedas, where it is stated simply: By understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can overcome the chain of repeated birth and death. I therefore recommend that people should not try to understand You by their speculative knowledge.”
FAQs
This verse states that Kṛṣṇa’s form is “svecchā-maya”—manifest by His own will—and not “bhūta-maya,” not a product of material elements, so it cannot be measured by ordinary material logic.
After being bewildered by Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja-līlā and witnessing His inconceivable supremacy, Brahmā offers prayers admitting that even he cannot fully grasp the Lord’s greatness, and that the Lord’s form is transcendental.
Approach spiritual truth with humility: instead of trying to reduce God to concepts, cultivate bhakti—hearing, chanting, and sincere prayer—so understanding arises through grace rather than mere analysis.