Texts 12-15] Entanglement in Fruitive Activities 1381

spiritual path and the yoga system, come back under the influence of the
time factor. Although they are liberated by their nonfruitive activities and
they attain the first incarnation of the purusa, still, at the time of creation,
they come back in exactly the same forms and positions as they had
previously.

PURPORT

That Brahma becomes liberated is known to everyone, but he cannot
liberate his devotees. Demigods like Brahma and Lord Siva cannot give
liberation to any living entity. As it is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, only
one who surrenders unto Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can
be liberated from the clutches of mdayd. Brahma is called here ddyah
sthira-caranam. He is the original, first-created living entity, and after his
own birth he creates the entire cosmic manifestation. He was fully in-
structed in the matter of creation by the Supreme Lord. Here he is called
veda-garbha, which means that he knows the complete purpose of the
Vedas. He is always accompanied by such great personalities as Marici,
Kaégyapa and the seven sages, as well as by great mystic yogis, the Kumaras
and many other spiritually advanced living entities, but he has his own
interest, separate from the Lord’s. Bheda-drstya means that Brahma
sometimes thinks that he is independent of the Supreme Lord, or
he thinks of himself as one of the three equally independent incarna-
tions. Brahma is entrusted with creation, Visnu maintains, and Rudra,
Lord Siva, destroys. The three of them are understood to be incarnations
of the Supreme Lord in charge of the three different material modes of
nature, but none of them is independent of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Here the word bheda-drstya occurs because Brahma has a slight
inclination to think that he is as independent as Rudra. Sometimes Brahma
thinks that he is independent of the Supreme Lord, and the worshiper also
thinks that he is independent. For this reason, after the destruction of this
material world, when there is again creation by the interaction of the
material modes of nature, Brahma comes back. Although Brahma reaches
the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the first purusa incarnation, Maha-
Visnu, who is full with transcendental qualities, still he cannot stay in the
spiritual world.

The specific significance of his coming back may be noted. Brahma and
the great rsis and the great master of yoga (Siva) are not ordinary living
entities; they are very powerful and have all the perfections of mystic
yoga. But still they have an inclination to try to become one with the Su-
preme, and therefore they have to come back. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam
