256 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 4

aq asttea Faatisaad Trey |
aa aaa wary Faas fay: oll

sa vai yada mahddevo
mama viryopabrmhitah

mene khilam ivatmanam
udyatah svarga-karmani

atha me ’bhihito devas
tapo ‘tapyata darunam
nava visva-srjo yusman

yenddav asrjad vibhuh

sah—that Lord Brahma; vai—indeed; yadd—when; mahd-devah—
the chief of all the demigods; mama—My; virya-upabrmhitah—being
increased by the potency; mene—thought; khilam—incapable; iva—as
if; dtmanam—himself; udyatah—attempting; svarga-karmani—in the
creation of the universal affairs; atha—at that time; me—by Me;
abhihitah—advised; devah—that Lord Brahma; tapah—austerity;
atapyata—performed; ddrunam—extremely difficult; nava—nine;
visva-srjah—important personalities to create the universe; yusman—all
of you; yena—by whom; ddau—in the beginning; asrjat—created;
vibhuh—the great.

TRANSLATION

When the chief lord of the universe, Lord Brahma
[Svayambha], having been inspired by My energy, was attempting
to create, he thought himself incapable. Therefore I gave him ad-
vice, and in accordance with my instructions he underwent ex-
tremely difficult austerities. Because of these austerities, the great
Lord Brahma was able to create nine personalities, including you,
to help him in the functions of creation.

PURPORT

Nothing is possible without tapasya. Lord Brahma, however, was em-
powered to create this entire universe because of his austerities. The
