Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 33
Brahmā’s Tapasya, the Vision of Vaikuṇṭha, and the Lord’s Seed Instructions
Catuḥ-śloki
अहमेवासमेवाग्रे नान्यद् यत् सदसत् परम् । पश्चादहं यदेतच्च योऽवशिष्येत सोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ ३३ ॥
aham evāsam evāgre nānyad yat sad-asat param paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca yo ’vaśiṣyeta so ’smy aham
婆罗摩啊，创世之前唯有我存在；除我之外别无他物——非有非无，连作为创因的物质自然亦未显现。如今你所见亦是我；毁灭之后所余仍唯有我。
We should note very carefully that the Personality of Godhead is addressing Lord Brahmā and specifying with great emphasis Himself, pointing out that it is He, the Personality of Godhead, who existed before the creation, it is He only who maintains the creation, and it is He only who remains after the annihilation of the creation. Brahmā is also a creation of the Supreme Lord. The impersonalist puts forth the theory of oneness in the sense that Brahmā — also being the same principle of “I,” because he is an emanation from the I, the Absolute Truth — is identical with the Lord, the principle of I, and that there is thus nothing more than the principle of I, as explained in this verse. Accepting the argument of the impersonalist, it is to be admitted that the Lord is the creator I and that the Brahmā is the created I. Therefore there is a difference between the two I’s, namely the predominator I and the predominated I. Therefore there are still two I’s, even accepting the argument of the impersonalist. But we must note carefully that these two I’s are accepted in the Vedic literature ( Kaṭhopaniṣad ) in the sense of quality. The Kaṭhopaniṣad says:
FAQs
It declares that only the Supreme Lord existed before creation—nothing else, neither the manifest world nor the unmanifest cause.
Brahma sought clarity about creation and ultimate truth; the Lord taught him that all stages—before creation, during existence, and after dissolution—rest solely in Him.
It trains one to see everything as resting in the Supreme, reducing fear and ego, and strengthening devotion and surrender amid change and uncertainty.