Text 20] Manifestation of Brahmā from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu
319
saḥ —he (Brahmā);  ittham —in this way;  udvīkṣya —contemplating;  tat —that;  abja —lotus;  nāla —stem;  nādībhiḥ —by the pipe;  antaḥ-jalam —within the water;  āviveśa —entered into;  na —not;  arvāk —in spite of going inside, nearby;  gataḥ tat —going into;  khara-nāla —the stem of the lotus;  nāla —pipe;  nābhim —of the navel;  vicinvan —thinking much of it;  tat —that;  avindata —understood;  ajaḥ —the self-born.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahmā, thus contemplating, entered the channel of the stem of the lotus. But in spite of his entering the stem and going nearer to the navel of Viṣṇu, he could not trace out the root.
PURPORT
By dint of one's personal endeavor one may go nearer to the Lord, but without the Lord's mercy one cannot reach the ultimate point. Such understanding of the Lord is possible only by devotional service, as confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā :  bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ . (Bg.18.55)
TEXT 20
तमस्यपारे विदुरात्मसर्गं 
    विचिन्वतोऽभूत्सुमहांस्त्रिणेमिः । 
    यो देहभाजां भयमीरयाणः 
    परिक्षिणोत्यायुरजस्य हेतिः ॥२०॥
tamasy apāre vidurātma-sargaṁ 
    vicinvato 'bhūt sumahāṁs triṇemiḥ 
    yo deha-bhājāṁ bhayam īrayāṇaḥ 
    parikṣiṇoty āyur ajasya hetiḥ
tamasi apāre —because of an ignorant way of searching;  vidura —O Vidura;  ātma-sargam —the cause of his creation;  vicinvataḥ —while contemplating;  abhūt —it so became;  sumahān —very great;  triṇemiḥ —time of three dimensions;  yaḥ —which;  deha-bhājām —of the embodied;  bhayam —fearfulness;  īrayāṇaḥ —generating;  parikṣiṇoti —diminishing the one hundred years;  āyuḥ —duration of life;  ajasya —of the self-born;  hetiḥ —the wheel of eternal time.
TRANSLATION
O Vidura, while searching in that way about his existence, Brahmā reached his ultimate time, which is the eternal wheel in the hand of Viṣṇu