Lord Brahma's Prayers before Creation

brahmovāca jñāto 'si me 'dya sucirān nanu deha-bhājāṁ na jñāyate bhagavato gatir ity avadyam nānyat tvad asti bhagavann api tan na śuddhaṁ māyā-guṇa-vyatikarād yad urur vibhāsi

Lord Brahmā said: O my Lord, today, after many, many years of penance, I have come to know about You. Oh, how unfortunate the embodied living entities are that they are unable to know Your personality! My Lord, You are the only knowable object because there is nothing supreme beyond You. If there is anything supposedly superior to You, it is not the Absolute. You exist as the Supreme by exhibiting the creative energy of matter.

rūpaṁ yad etad avabodha-rasodayena śaśvan-nivṛtta-tamasaḥ sad-anugrahāya ādau gṛhītam avatāra-śataika-bījaṁ yan-nābhi-padma-bhavanād aham āvirāsam

The form which I see is eternally freed from material contamination and has advented to show mercy to the devotees as a manifestation of internal potency. This incarnation is the origin of many other incarnations, and I am born from the lotus flower grown from Your navel home.

nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ paśyāmi viśva-sṛjam ekam aviśvam ātman bhūtendriyātmaka-madas ta upāśrito 'smi

O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky, there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I surrender unto You because whereas I am proud of my material body and senses, Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation and yet You are untouched by matter.

tad vā idaṁ bhuvana-maṅgala maṅgalāya dhyāne sma no darśitaṁ ta upāsakānām tasmai namo bhagavate 'nuvidhema tubhyaṁ yo 'nādṛto naraka-bhāgbhir asat-prasaṅgaiḥ

This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.

ye tu tvadīya-caraṇāmbuja-kośa-gandhaṁ jighranti karṇa-vivaraiḥ śruti-vāta-nītam bhaktyā gṛhīta-caraṇaḥ parayā ca teṣāṁ nāpaiṣi nātha hṛdayāmburuhāt sva-puṁsām

O my Lord, persons who smell the aroma of Your lotus feet, carried by the air of Vedic sound through the holes of the ears, accept Your devotional service. For them You are never separated from the lotus of their hearts.

tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ yāvan na te 'ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ

O my Lord, the people of the world are embarrassed by all material anxieties — they are always afraid. They always try to protect wealth, body and friends, they are filled with lamentation and unlawful desires and paraphernalia, and they avariciously base their undertakings on the perishable conceptions of “my” and “mine.” As long as they do not take shelter of Your safe lotus feet, they are full of such anxieties.

daivena te hata-dhiyo bhavataḥ prasaṅgāt sarvāśubhopaśamanād vimukhendriyā ye kurvanti kāma-sukha-leśa-lavāya dīnā lobhābhibhūta-manaso 'kuśalāni śaśvat

O my Lord, persons who are bereft of the all-auspicious performance of chanting and hearing about Your transcendental activities are certainly unfortunate and are also bereft of good sense. They engage in inauspicious activities, enjoying sense gratification for a very little while.

kṣut-tṛṭ-tridhātubhir imā muhur ardyamānāḥ śītoṣṇa-vāta-varaṣair itaretarāc ca kāmāgninācyuta-ruṣā ca sudurbhareṇa sampaśyato mana urukrama sīdate me

O great actor, my Lord, all these poor creatures are constantly perplexed by hunger, thirst, severe cold, secretion and bile, attacked by coughing winter, blasting summer, rains and many other disturbing elements, and overwhelmed by strong sex urges and indefatigable anger. I take pity on them, and I am very much aggrieved for them.

yāvat pṛthaktvam idam ātmana indriyārtha- māyā-balaṁ bhagavato jana īśa paśyet tāvan na saṁsṛtir asau pratisaṅkrameta vyarthāpi duḥkha-nivahaṁ vahatī kriyārthā

O my Lord, the material miseries are without factual existence for the soul. Yet as long as the conditioned soul sees the body as meant for sense enjoyment, he cannot get out of the entanglement of material miseries, being influenced by Your external energy.

ahny āpṛtārta-karaṇā niśi niḥśayānā nānā-manoratha-dhiyā kṣaṇa-bhagna-nidrāḥ daivāhatārtha-racanā ṛṣayo 'pi deva yuṣmat-prasaṅga-vimukhā iha saṁsaranti

Such nondevotees engage their senses in very troublesome and extensive work, and they suffer insomnia at night because their intelligence constantly breaks their sleep with various mental speculations. They are frustrated in all their various plans by supernatural power. Even great sages, if they are against Your transcendental topics, must rotate in this material world.

tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām yad-yad-dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti tat-tad-vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya

O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.

nātiprasīdati tathopacitopacārair ārādhitaḥ sura-gaṇair hṛdi baddha-kāmaiḥ yat sarva-bhūta-dayayāsad-alabhyayaiko nānā-janeṣv avahitaḥ suhṛd antar-ātmā

My Lord, You are not very much satisfied by the worship of the demigods, who arrange for Your worship very pompously, with various paraphernalia, but who are full of material hankerings. You are situated in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul just to show Your causeless mercy, and You are the eternal well-wisher, but You are unavailable for the nondevotee.

puṁsām ato vividha-karmabhir adhvarādyair dānena cogra-tapasā paricaryayā ca ārādhanaṁ bhagavatas tava sat-kriyārtho dharmo 'rpitaḥ karhicid mriyate na yatra

But the pious activities of the people, such as performance of Vedic rituals, charity, austere penances and transcendental service, performed with a view to worship You and satisfy You by offering You the fruitive results, are also beneficial. Such acts of religion never go in vain.

śaśvat svarūpa-mahasaiva nipīta-bheda- mohāya bodha-dhiṣaṇāya namaḥ parasmai viśvodbhava-sthiti-layeṣu nimitta-līlā- rāsāya te nama idaṁ cakṛmeśvarāya

Let me offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Transcendence, who is eternally distinguished by His internal potency. His indistinguishable impersonal feature is realized by intelligence for self-realization. I offer my obeisances unto Him who by His pastimes enjoys the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation.

yasyāvatāra-guṇa-karma-viḍambanāni nāmāni ye 'su-vigame vivaśā gṛṇanti te 'naika-janma-śamalaṁ sahasaiva hitvā saṁyānty apāvṛtāmṛtaṁ tam ajaṁ prapadye

Let me take shelter of the lotus feet of Him whose incarnations, qualities and activities are mysterious imitations of worldly affairs. One who invokes His transcendental names, even unconsciously, at the time he quits this life, is certainly washed immediately of the sins of many, many births and attains Him without fail.

yo vā ahaṁ ca giriśaś ca vibhuḥ svayaṁ ca sthity-udbhava-pralaya-hetava ātma-mūlam bhittvā tri-pād vavṛdha eka uru-prarohas tasmai namo bhagavate bhuvana-drumāya

Your Lordship is the prime root of the tree of the planetary systems. This tree has grown by first penetrating the material nature in three trunks — as me, Śiva and You, the Almighty — for creation, maintenance and dissolution, and we three have grown with many branches. Therefore I offer my obeisances unto You, the tree of the cosmic manifestation.

loko vikarma-nirataḥ kuśale pramattaḥ karmaṇy ayaṁ tvad-udite bhavad-arcane sve yas tāvad asya balavān iha jīvitāśāṁ sadyaś chinatty animiṣāya namo 'stu tasmai

People in general all engage in foolish acts, not in the really beneficial activities enunciated directly by You for their guidance. As long as their tendency for foolish work remains powerful, all their plans in the struggle for existence will be cut to pieces. I therefore offer my obeisances unto Him who acts as eternal time.

yasmād bibhemy aham api dviparārdha-dhiṣṇyam adhyāsitaḥ sakala-loka-namaskṛtaṁ yat tepe tapo bahu-savo 'varurutsamānas tasmai namo bhagavate 'dhimakhāya tubhyam

Your Lordship, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You who are indefatigable time and the enjoyer of all sacrifices. Although I am situated in an abode which will continue to exist for a time duration of two parārdhas, although I am the leader of all other planets in the universe, and although I have undergone many, many years of penance for self-realization, still I offer my respects unto You.

tiryaṅ-manuṣya-vibudhādiṣu jīva-yoniṣv ātmecchayātma-kṛta-setu-parīpsayā yaḥ reme nirasta-viṣayo 'py avaruddha-dehas tasmai namo bhagavate puruṣottamāya

O my Lord, by Your own will You appear in the various species of living entities, among animals lower than human beings as well as among the demigods, to perform Your transcendental pastimes. You are not affected by material contamination. You come just to fulfill the obligations of Your own principles of religion, and therefore, O Supreme Personality, I offer my obeisances unto You for manifesting such different forms.

yo 'vidyayānupahato 'pi daśārdha-vṛttyā nidrām uvāha jaṭharī-kṛta-loka-yātraḥ antar-jale 'hi-kaśipu-sparśānukūlāṁ bhīmormi-mālini janasya sukhaṁ vivṛṇvan

My Lord, You accept the pleasure of sleeping in the water of devastation, where there are violent waves, and You enjoy pleasure on the bed of snakes, showing the happiness of Your sleep to intelligent persons. At that time, all the universal planets are stationed within Your abdomen.

yan-nābhi-padma-bhavanād aham āsam īḍya loka-trayopakaraṇo yad-anugraheṇa tasmai namas ta udara-stha-bhavāya yoga- nidrāvasāna-vikasan-nalinekṣaṇāya

O object of my worship, I am born from the house of Your lotus navel for the purpose of creating the universe by Your mercy. All these planets of the universe were stationed within Your transcendental abdomen while You were enjoying sleep. Now, Your sleep having ended, Your eyes are open like blossoming lotuses in the morning.

so 'yaṁ samasta-jagatāṁ suhṛd eka ātmā sattvena yan mṛḍayate bhagavān bhagena tenaiva me dṛśam anuspṛśatād yathāhaṁ srakṣyāmi pūrvavad idaṁ praṇata-priyo 'sau

Let the Supreme Lord be merciful towards me. He is the one friend and soul of all living entities in the world, and He maintains all, for their ultimate happiness, by His six transcendental opulences. May He be merciful towards me so that I, as before, may be empowered with the introspection to create, for I am also one of the surrendered souls who are dear to the Lord.

eṣa prapanna-varado ramayātma-śaktyā yad yat kariṣyati gṛhīta-guṇāvatāraḥ tasmin sva-vikramam idaṁ sṛjato 'pi ceto yuñjīta karma-śamalaṁ ca yathā vijahyām

The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is always the benefactor of the surrendered souls. His activities are always enacted through His internal potency, Ramā, or the goddess of fortune. I pray only to engage in His service in the creation of the material world, and I pray that I not be materially affected by my works, for thus I may be able to give up the false prestige of being the creator.

nābhi-hradād iha sato 'mbhasi yasya puṁso vijñāna-śaktir aham āsam ananta-śakteḥ rūpaṁ vicitram idam asya vivṛṇvato me mā rīriṣīṣṭa nigamasya girāṁ visargaḥ

The Lord’s potencies are innumerable. As He lies down in the water of devastation, I am born as the total universal energy from the navel lake in which the lotus sprouts. I am now engaged in manifesting His diverse energies in the form of the cosmic manifestation. I therefore pray that in the course of my material activities I may not be deviated from the vibration of the Vedic hymns.

so 'sāv adabhra-karuṇo bhagavān vivṛddha- prema-smitena nayanāmburuhaṁ vijṛmbhan utthāya viśva-vijayāya ca no viṣādaṁ mādhvyā girāpanayatāt puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ

The Lord, who is supreme and is the oldest of all, is unlimitedly merciful. I wish that He may smilingly bestow His benediction upon me by opening His lotus eyes. He can uplift the entire cosmic creation and remove our dejection by kindly speaking His directions.