Brahma (SB canto 4)
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
n this Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are thirty-one chapters, and all these chapters describe the secondary creation by Brahmā and the Manus. The Supreme Lord Himself does the real creation by agitating His material energy, and then, by His order, Brahma, the first living creature in the universe, attempts to create the different planetary systems and their inhabitants, expanding the population through his progeny, like Manu and other progenitors of living entities, who work perpetually under the order of the Supreme Lord.
In this chapter the descendants of the first daughter, Ākūti, will specifically be described. Svāyambhuva Manu was the son of Brahmā. Brahmā had many other sons, but Manu's name is specifically mentioned first because he was a great devotee of the Lord. In this verse there is also the word ca, indicating that besides the three daughters mentioned, Svāyambhuva Manu also had two sons.
Svāyambhuva Manu handed over his daughter Prasūti to the son of Brahmā named Dakṣa, who was also one of the progenitors of the living entities. The descendants of Dakṣa are spread throughout the three worlds.
Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Muni, gave birth to three very famous sons—Soma, Dattātreya and Durvāsā—who were partial representations of Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Soma was a partial representation of Lord Brahmā, Dattātreya was a partial representation of Lord Viṣṇu, and Durvāsā was a partial representation of Lord Śiva.
In this verse we find the words ātma-īśa-brahma-sambhavān. Ātma means the Supersoul, or Viṣṇu, īśa means Lord Śiva, and brahma means the four-headed Lord Brahmā. The three sons born of Anasūyā—Dattātreya, Durvāsā and Soma—were born as partial representations of these three demigods. Ātma is not in the category of the demigods or living entities because He is Viṣṇu; therefore He is described as vibhinnāṁśa-bhūtānām. The Supersoul, Viṣṇu, is the seed-giving father of all living entities, including Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Another meaning of the word ātma may be accepted in this way: the principle who is the Supersoul in every ātma, or, one may say, the soul of everyone, became manifested as Dattātreya, because the word aṁśa, part and parcel, is used here.
In Bhagavad-gītā the individual souls are also described as parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or Supersoul, so why not accept that Dattātreya was one of those parts? Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are also described here as parts, so why not accept all of them as ordinary individual souls? The answer is that the manifestations of Viṣṇu and those of the ordinary living entities are certainly all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and no one is equal to Him, but among the parts and parcels there are different categories.
The Viṣṇu svāṁśa expansions of the Supreme Lord in different Viṣṇu forms are like lamps, Lord Śiva is also like a lamp, and the supreme candle power, or the one-hundred-percent light, is Kṛṣṇa. The viṣṇu-tattva has ninety-four percent, the śiva-tattva has eighty-four percent, Lord Brahmā has seventy-eight percent, and the living entities are also like Brahmā, but in the conditioned state their power is still more dim. There are gradations of Brahman, and no one can deny this fact. Therefore the words ātmeśa-brahma-sambhavān indicate that Dattātreya was directly part and parcel of Viṣṇu, whereas Durvāsā and Soma were parts and parcels of Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā.
After hearing this, Vidura inquired from Maitreya: My dear master, how is it that the three deities Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, who are the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the whole creation, became the offspring of the wife of Atri Muni?
The inquisitiveness of Vidura was quite fitting, for he understood that when the Supersoul, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva all appeared through the person of Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Muni, there must have been some great purpose. Otherwise why should they have appeared in such a way?
Maitreya said: When Lord Brahmā ordered Atri Muni to create generations after marrying Anasūyā, Atri Muni and his wife went to perform severe austerities in the valley of the mountain known as Ṛkṣa.
While Atri Muni was engaged in these severe austerities, a blazing fire came out of his head by virtue of his breathing exercise, and that fire was seen by the three principal deities of the three worlds.
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the fire of prāṇāyāma is mental satisfaction. That fire was perceived by the Supersoul, Viṣṇu, and thereby Lord Brahmā and Śiva also perceived it. Atri Muni, by his breathing exercise, concentrated on the Supersoul, or the Lord of the universe. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord of the universe is Vāsudeva (vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19)), and, by the direction of Vāsudeva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva work. Therefore, on the direction of Vāsudeva, both Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva perceived the severe penance adopted by Atri Muni, and thus they were pleased to come down, as stated in the next verse.
It is advised in the Vedic literatures that one should take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Lord of the universe and the master of creation, maintenance and dissolution. He is known as the Supersoul, and when one worships the Supersoul, all other deities, such as Brahmā and Śiva, appear with Lord Viṣṇu because they are directed by the Supersoul.
Thereafter he began to offer prayers to the three deities, who were seated on different carriers—a bull, a swan and Garuḍa—and who held in their hands a drum, kuśa grass and a discus. The sage offered them his respects by falling down like a stick.
Daṇḍa means "a long rod," and vat means "like." Before a superior, one has to fall down on the ground just like a stick, and this sort of offering of respect is called daṇḍavat. Atri Ṛṣi offered his respect to the three deities in that way. They were identified by their different carriers and different symbolic representations. In that connection it is stated here that Lord Viṣṇu was sitting on Garuḍa, a big aquiline bird, and was carrying in His hand a disc, Brahmā was sitting on a swan and had in his hand kuśa grass, and Lord Śiva was sitting on a bull and carrying in his hand a small drum called a ḍamaru.
But since his heart was already attracted by the deities, somehow or other he gathered his senses, and with folded hands and sweet words he began to offer prayers to the predominating deities of the universe. The great sage Atri said: O Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva, you have divided yourself into three bodies by accepting the three modes of material nature, as you do in every millennium for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all of you and beg to inquire whom of you three I have called by my prayer.
Atri Ṛṣi called for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, jagad-īśvara, the Lord of the universe. The Lord must exist before the creation, otherwise how could He be its Lord? If someone constructs a big building, this indicates that he must have existed before the building was constructed. Therefore the Supreme Lord, the creator of the universe, must be transcendental to the material modes of nature. But it is known that Viṣṇu takes charge of the mode of goodness, Brahmā takes charge of the mode of passion, and Lord Śiva takes charge of the mode of ignorance.
Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose abdomen sprouted the lotus flower which is the birthplace of Brahmā, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Similarly, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is the Supersoul of all living entities, may also be considered the Lord of the universe. Then, under the order of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇu form within this universe, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva may also be accepted as the Lords of the universe.
Viṣṇu is the Lord of the universe because He is its maintainer. Similarly, Brahmā creates the different planetary systems and the population, so he also may be considered the Lord of the universe. Or Lord Śiva, who is ultimately the destroyer of the universe, also may be considered its Lord. Therefore, since Atri Muni did not specifically mention whom he wanted, all three—Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva—came before him.
Thus, while the couple looked on, the three deities Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara disappeared from that place after bestowing upon Atri Muni the benediction.
Thereafter, from the partial representation of Brahmā, the moon-god was born of them; from the partial representation of Viṣṇu, the great mystic Dattātreya was born; and from the partial representation of Śaṅkara (Lord Śiva), Durvāsā was born. Now you may hear from me of the many sons of Aṅgirā.
| Page Title: | Brahma (SB canto 4) |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 17 of Sep, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=207, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 207 |