468
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 9]
business of human life. This  tapa , or penance, was begun from the very beginning of the creation, and it was first adopted by the supreme spiritual master, Lord Brahmā. By  tapasya  only can one get the profit of human life, and not by a polished civilization of animal life. The animal does not know anything except sense gratification in the jurisdiction of eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. But the human being is made to undergo  tapasya  for going back to Godhead, back to home.
When Lord Brahmā was perplexed about how to construct the material manifestations in the universe and went down within the water to find out the means and the source of his lotus seat, he heard the word  tapa  vibrated twice. To take the path of  tapa  is the second birth of the desiring disciple. The word  upāśṛṇot  is very significant. It is similar to  upanayana , or bringing the disciple nearer to the spiritual master for the path of  tapa . So Brahmājī was thus initiated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, and this fact is corroborated by Brahmājī himself in his book the  Brahma-saṁhitā . In the  Brahma-saṁhitā  Lord Brahmā has sung in every verse  govindam ādi-purusaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi . Thus Brahmā was initiated by the Kṛṣṇa  mantra , by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, and thus he became a Vaiṣṇava, or a devotee of the Lord, before he was able to construct the huge universe. It is stated in the  Brahma-saṁhitā  that Lord Brahmā was initiated into the eighteen-letter Kṛṣṇa  mantra , which is generally accepted by all the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. We follow the same principle because we belong to the Brahmā  sampradāya , directly in the disciplic chain from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa, from Vyāsa to Madhva Muni, from Madhva Muni to Mādhavendra Purī, from Mādhavendra Purī to Iśvara Purī, from Iśvara Purī to Lord Caitanya and gradually to His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, our divine master.
One who is thus initiated in the disciplic succession is able to achieve the same result or power of creation. Chanting of this holy  mantra  is the only shelter of the desireless pure devotee of the Lord. Simply by such  tapasya , or penance, the devotee of the Lord achieves all perfections like Lord Brahmā.
TEXT 7
निशम्य तद्वक्तृदिद्दक्षया दिशो
विलोक्य तत्रान्यदपश्यमानः ।
स्वधिष्ण्यमास्याय विमृश्य तद्धितं
तपस्युपादिष्ट इवादधे मनः ॥ ७ ॥