Shloka 51
Vidura’s Questions on Devotion and Sarga; Maitreya Begins the Account of Creation
ततो वयं मत्प्रमुखा यदर्थे बभूविमात्मन् करवाम किं ते । त्वं न: स्वचक्षु: परिदेहि शक्त्या देव क्रियार्थे यदनुग्रहाणाम् ॥ ५१ ॥
tato vayaṁ mat-pramukhā yad-arthe babhūvimātman karavāma kiṁ te tvaṁ naḥ sva-cakṣuḥ paridehi śaktyā deva kriyārthe yad-anugrahāṇām
O Supreme Self, we (Brahmā and the rest), created at the beginning from the mahat-tattva, for what purpose do we exist, and what shall we do for You? O Deva, grant us Your directions as our very eyes; bestow perfect knowledge and potency so we may serve You in the many departments of the subsequent creation.
The Lord creates this material world and impregnates the material energy with the living entities who will act in the material world. All these actions have a divine plan behind them. The plan is to give the conditioned souls who so desire it a chance to enjoy sense gratification. But there is another plan behind the creation: to help the living entities realize that they are created for the transcendental sense gratification of the Lord and not for their individual sense gratification. This is the constitutional position of the living entities. The Lord is one without a second, and He expands Himself into many for His transcendental pleasure. All the expansions — the viṣṇu-tattvas, the jīva-tattvas and the śakti-tattvas (the Personalities of Godhead, the living entities and the different potencies) — are different offshoots from the same one Supreme Lord. The jīva-tattvas are separated expansions of the viṣṇu-tattvas, and although the jīvas have different potencies, they are all meant for the transcendental sense gratification of the Supreme Lord. Some of the jīvas, however, wanted to lord it over material nature in imitation of the lordship of the Personality of Godhead. Regarding when and why such propensities overcame the pure living entities, it can only be explained that the jīva-tattvas have infinitesimal independence and that due to misuse of this independence some of the living entities have become implicated in the conditions of cosmic creation and are therefore called nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls.
FAQs
It shows that even Brahmā seeks the Lord’s own “vision” and strength, acknowledging that right action and successful service are possible only by divine mercy.
Brahmā and the demigods approach the Lord in humility, offering themselves for His purpose and requesting empowerment to carry out their duties in creation and service.
Before acting, one can pray for clarity, purity of intention, and strength—recognizing that effective, dharmic action and devotion flourish through the Lord’s grace.