432 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 2, Ch. 8

TEXT 9

aa: Bata yatht Yaa AIT |
qeat aa aed aaa a 1 SII

ajah srjati bhiittani
bhiitatma yad-anugrahat
dadrse yena tad-riipam
nabhi-padma-samudbhavah

ajah—one who is born without a material source; srjati— creates;
bhitani—all those materially born; bhiita-atma—having a body of matter;
yat—whose; anugrahat—by the mercy of; dadrse—could see; yena—by
whom; tat-ripam—His form of body; nabhi— navel; padma-— lotus flower;
samudbhavah—being born of.

TRANSLATION

Brahma, who was not born of a material source but of the lotus flower
coming out of the navel abdomen of the Lord, is the creator of all those
who are materially born. Of course, by the grace of the Lord, Brahma was
able to see the form of the Lord.

PURPORT

The first living creature, Brahma, is called ajah because he did not take
his birth from the womb of a mother materially born. He was directly
born from the bodily expansion of the lotus flower of the Lord. Thus it is
not readily understandable whether the body of the Lord and that of
Brahma are of the same quality or different. This must also be clearly
understood. One thing is, however, certain: Brahma was completely
dependent on the mercy of the Lord because after his birth he could
create living beings by the Lord’s grace only, and he could see the form of
the Lord. Whether the form seen by Brahma is of the same quality as that
of Brahma is a bewildering question, and Maharaja Pariksit wanted to get
clear answers from Srila Sukadeva Gosvaml.
