Shloka 12

Nārada’s Questions and Brahmā’s Reply: Vāsudeva as the Source; Sarga–Visarga; Virāṭ-rūpa Mapping

Devanagari script

तस्मै नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय धीमहि । यन्मायया दुर्जयया मां वदन्ति जगद्गुरुम् ॥ १२ ॥

Transliteration

tasmai namo bhagavate vāsudevāya dhīmahi yan-māyayā durjayayā māṁ vadanti jagad-gurum

Translation

အရှင်ဘဂဝန် ဝါစုဒေဝ (သီရိကృష్ణ) ထံ ဦးညွတ်ပူဇော်၍ စိတ်တည်ငြိမ်စွာ သတိပြုတရားထိုင်ပါ၏။ မအနိုင်ယူနိုင်သော မာယာတန်ခိုးကြောင့် လူတို့က ကျွန်ုပ်ကို လောကဂုရုဟု ခေါ်ကြသည်။

Synonyms

• तस्मै: to him
• तस्मै: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Sambodhana/Prayojaka (सम्बोधन/उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), interjection/particle of salutation (नमस्कारार्थक)

• भगवते: to the Blessed Lord
• भगवते: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)

• वासुदेवाय: to Vāsudeva
• वासुदेवाय: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासुदेव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)

• धीमहि: we meditate
• धीमहि: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धा (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), 1st person (उत्तमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Ātmanepada; meaning ‘we meditate/hold in mind’ (धीमहि)

• यत्: by which
• यत्: Karana (करण/instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); relative pronoun used with ‘मायया’ (यन्मायया = यत् + मायया)

• मायया: by (His) māyā
• मायया: Karana (करण/instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• दुर्जयया: hard to overcome
• दुर्जयया: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुर्जया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); adjective qualifying ‘मायया’

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma (कर्म/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: First-person pronoun, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• वदन्ति: they call/say
• वदन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वद् (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada

• जगत्-गुरुम्: teacher of the world
• जगत्-गुरुम्: Karma (कर्म/object complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक) + गुरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: जगतः गुरु:

Purport

As will be more clearly explained in the next verse, the illusory potency of the Lord bewilders the less intelligent to accept Brahmājī, or for that matter any other person, as the Supreme Lord. Brahmājī, however, refuses to be called this, and he directly offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Vāsudeva, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, as he has already offered the same respects to Him in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1) :

Characters & Entities

• Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)
• Brahmā

FAQs

What does the Srimad Bhagavatam say about māyā being unconquerable?

This verse states that the Lord’s māyā is durjayā—invincible—and by that power people can misjudge and attribute ultimate spiritual authority to a created being like Brahmā instead of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva.

Why did Brahmā say this prayer to Vāsudeva?

In Canto 2, Chapter 5, Brahmā explains the origin of creation and acknowledges that his own status is dependent on the Supreme Lord; he offers obeisances to Vāsudeva and credits the Lord’s māyā for people calling him “jagad-guru.”

Practical application of humility and devotion from this shloka in modern life?

Even if one is praised or seen as an authority, one should remain humble, remember the Supreme as the real source of power, and direct honor toward God rather than becoming proud of one’s position.