Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 30
Dakṣa’s Sacrifice Restored: Śiva’s Mercy and Nārāyaṇa’s Appearance
भृगुरुवाच यन्मायया गहनयापहृतात्मबोधा ब्रह्मादयस्तनुभृतस्तमसि स्वपन्त: । नात्मन् श्रितं तव विदन्त्यधुनापि तत्त्वं सोऽयं प्रसीदतु भवान्प्रणतात्मबन्धु: ॥ ३० ॥
bhṛgur uvāca yan māyayā gahanayāpahṛtātma-bodhā brahmādayas tanu-bhṛtas tamasi svapantaḥ nātman-śritaṁ tava vidanty adhunāpi tattvaṁ so ’yaṁ prasīdatu bhavān praṇatātma-bandhuḥ
圣者婆利古说道：主啊，由于您深不可测的幻力（māyā），自梵天起乃至一切具身众生都失却本性之觉悟，沉睡于无明黑暗之中。他们至今仍不知您以超灵（Paramātmā）住于每个生命之内，也难明白您的绝对地位。然而您是归依者永恒的朋友与护佑者；愿您垂慈，赦免我们的过失。
Bhṛgu Muni was conscious of the scandalous behavior exhibited by each and every one of them, including Brahmā and Lord Śiva, in the sacrificial ceremony of Dakṣa. By mentioning Brahmā, the chief of all living entities within this material world, he wanted to state that everyone, including also Brahmā and Lord Śiva, is under the concept of the body and under the spell of material energy — all but Viṣṇu. That is the version of Bhṛgu. As long as one is under the concept of the body as self, it is very difficult to understand the Supersoul or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Conscious that he was not greater than Brahmā, Bhṛgu included himself in the list of offenders. Ignorant personalities, or conditioned souls, have no choice but to accept their precarious condition under material nature. The only remedy is to surrender to Viṣṇu and always pray to be excused. One should depend only on the causeless mercy of the Lord for deliverance and not even slightly on one’s own strength. That is the perfect position of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. The Lord is everyone’s friend, but He is especially friendly to the surrendered soul. The simple process, therefore, is that a conditioned soul should remain surrendered to the Lord, and the Lord will give him all protection to keep him out of the clutches of material contamination.
FAQs
This verse says the Lord’s deep māyā can steal self-awareness, so even exalted embodied beings like Brahmā may remain in darkness and not fully know the Lord’s true reality.
In the aftermath of Dakṣa’s disrupted sacrifice, Bhṛgu acknowledges the Lord’s incomprehensibility and appeals to Him as the well-wisher of the surrendered, asking for mercy and restoration of harmony.
Recognize that intelligence and status do not guarantee spiritual clarity; practice humility and conscious surrender—seeking the Lord within—rather than trusting ego-based certainty.