248
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 4]
service of the Lord. In the service of the Personality of Godhead, it is not that Lord Brahmā is considered very great while an ordinary human being trying to preach the glories of the Lord is considered very low. There are no such distinctions. Regardless of whether materially high or materially low, anyone engaged in the service of the Lord is spiritually very dear to Him. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya gives this quotation from the  Tantra-nirṇaya :
viśeṣa-vyakti-pātratvād brahmādyās tu vibhūtayaḥ tad-antaryāmiṇaś caiva matsyādyā vibhavāḥ smṛtāḥ
From Lord Brahmā down, all the living entities engaged in the service of the Lord are extraordinary and are called  vibhūti . As the Lord says in  Bhagavad-gītā  (10.41):
yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjītam eva vā tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejo-'ṁśa-sambhavam
“Know that all beautiful, glorious and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.” A living entity especially empowered to act on behalf of the Lord is called  vibhūti , whereas the  viṣṇu-tattva  incarnations of the Lord, such as the Matsya  avatāra  ( keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagad-īśa hare ), are called  vibhava .
TEXT 46
तपो मे हृदयं ब्रह्मस्तनुर्विद्या क्रियाकृतिः ।
अङ्गानि क्रतवो जाता धर्म आत्मासवः सुराः ॥४६॥
tapo me hṛdayaṁ brahmaṁs tanur vidyā kriyākṛtiḥ aṅgāni kratavo jātā dharma ātmāsavaḥ surāḥ