20
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 5, Ch. 1]
वयं भवस्ते तत एष महर्षि- वर्हाम सर्वे विवशा यस्य दिष्टम् ॥११॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca 
        nibodha tatedam ṛtam bravīmi 
        māsūyitum devam arhasy aprameyam 
        vayam bhavas te tata eṣa maharṣir 
        vahāma sarve vivaśā yasya diṣṭam
śrī-bhagavān uvāca —the supreme person, Lord Brahmā, said; 
 nibodha —kindly hear with attention;  tata —my dear son;  idam —this; 
 ṛtam —true;  bravīmi —I am speaking;  mā —not;  asūyitum —to be 
        jealous of;  devam —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  arhasi —you 
        ought;  aprameyam —who is beyond our experimental knowledge; 
 vayam —we;  bhavaḥ —Lord Śiva;  te —your;  tataḥ —father;  eṣaḥ —this; 
 mahā-ṛṣiḥ —Nārada;  vahāmaḥ —carry out;  sarve —all;  vivaśāḥ —unable 
        to deviate;  yasya —of whom;  diṣṭam —the order.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahmā, the supreme person within this universe, said:  My 
        dear Priyavrata, kindly hear attentively what I shall say to you. Do 
        not be jealous of the Supreme Lord, who is beyond our experi- 
        mental measurements. All of us, including Lord Śiva, your father 
        and the great sage Mahārṣi Nārada, must carry out the order of the 
        Supreme. We cannot deviate from His order.
PURPORT
Of the twelve great authorities in devotional service, four—Lord 
        Brahmā himself, his son Nārada, Śvāyambhuva Manu and Lord Śiva— 
        were present before Priyavrata. They were accompanied by many other 
        authoritative sages. Brahmā first wanted to impress upon Priyavrata that 
        although these great personalities are all authorities, they cannot possibly 
        disobey the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is de- 
        scribed in this verse as  deva , which means “always glorious.” The 
        power, glory and potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can 
        never be diminished. In the  Īśopaniṣad , the Lord is described as  apāpa-