16
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 10, Ch. 13]
cowherd boys taking care of the calves;  nītvā —bringing them;  anya-tra —to a different place;  kurūdvaha —O Mahārāja Parikṣit;  antara-dadhāt —kept hidden and invisible for some time;  khe avasthitaḥ yaḥ —this person Brahmā, who was situated in the higher planetary system in the sky;  purā —formerly;  dṛṣṭvā —was observing;  aghāsura-mokṣaṇam —the wonderful killing and deliverance of Aghāsura from material tribulation;  prabhavataḥ —of the all-potent Supreme Person;  prāptaḥ param vismayam —had become extremely astonished.
TRANSLATION
O Mahārāja Parikṣit, Brahmā, who resides in the higher planetary system in the sky, had observed the activities of the most powerful Kṛṣṇa in killing and delivering Aghāsura, and he was astonished. Now that same Brahmā wanted to show some of his own power and see the power of Kṛṣṇa, who was engaged in His childhood pastimes, playing as if with ordinary cowherd boys. Therefore, in Kṛṣṇa’s absence, Brahmā took all the boys and calves to another place. Thus he became entangled, for in the very near future he would see how powerful Kṛṣṇa was.
PURPORT
When Aghāsura was being killed by Kṛṣṇa, who was accompanied by His associates, Brahmā was astonished, but when he saw that Kṛṣṇa was very much enjoying His pastimes of lunch, he was even more astonished and wanted to test whether Kṛṣṇa was actually there. Thus he became entangled in Kṛṣṇa’s  māyā . After all, Brahmā was born materially. As mentioned here,  ambhojanma-janiḥ : he was born of  ambhoja , a lotus flower. It does not matter that he was born of a lotus and not of any man, animal or material father. A lotus is also material, and anyone born through the material energy must be subject to the four material deficiencies:  bhrama  (the tendency to commit mistakes),  pramāda  (the tendency to be illusioned),  vipralipsā  (the tendency to cheat) and  kara-ṇāpāṭava  (imperfect senses). Thus Brahmā also became entangled.
Brahmā, with his  māyā , wanted to test whether Kṛṣṇa was actually present. These cowherd boys were but expansions of Kṛṣṇa’s personal self ( ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ ). Later Kṛṣṇa would show Brahmā how He expands Himself into everything as His personal