Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 28
Brahmā’s Tapasya, the Vision of Vaikuṇṭha, and the Lord’s Seed Instructions
Catuḥ-śloki
क्रीडस्यमोघसङ्कल्प ऊर्णनाभिर्यथोर्णुते । तथा तद्विषयां धेहि मनीषां मयि माधव ॥ २८ ॥
krīḍasy amogha-saṅkalpa ūrṇanābhir yathorṇute tathā tad-viṣayāṁ dhehi manīṣāṁ mayi mādhava
Ô Mādhava, Ta résolution est infaillible. Tu joues comme l’araignée qui tisse sa toile par sa propre énergie; aussi, accorde-moi une intelligence philosophique de ces énergies.
By the inconceivable energy of the Lord, every creative element has its own potencies, known as the potency of the element, potency of knowledge and potency of different actions and reactions. By a combination of such potencies of the Lord there is the manifestation of creation, maintenance and annihilation in due course of time and by different agents like Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara. Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu maintains, and Lord Śiva destroys. But all such agents and creative energies are emanations from the Lord, and as such, there is nothing except the Lord, or the one supreme source of different diversities. The exact example is the spider and spider’s web. The web is created by the spider, and it is maintained by the spider, and as soon as the spider likes, the whole thing is wound up within the spider. The spider is covered within the web. If an insignificant spider is so powerful as to act according to its will, why can’t the Supreme Being act by His supreme will in the creation, maintenance and destruction of the cosmic manifestations? By the grace of the Lord, a devotee like Brahmā, or one in his chain of disciplic succession, can understand the almighty Personality of Godhead eternally engaged in His transcendental pastimes in the region of different energies.
FAQs
This verse compares the Lord’s creative power to a spider that spins a web from itself—indicating that the cosmos emanates from the Supreme and is sustained by Him.
Brahmā, tasked with secondary creation, seeks unwavering God-centered understanding so his creative work remains aligned with the Lord, the source of all manifestation.
Make the Lord the “object” of your intelligence by regularly hearing/reading Bhagavatam, chanting His names, and consciously offering your work and decisions to Him.