Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 8 Chapter 5:30-38

Book 8: Chapter 5

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 8: Chapter 5: Verses 30-38 The gods resort to Brahma and the latter glorifies the Lord Let us bow to that Ruler of the highest gods, moving equally in all created beings, whose Maya (deluding potency) nobody can overpass-that Maya due to which men get bewildered and are unable to know the truth (their reality)-but who has completely subdued that Maya-Sakti of His own and its properties (in the shape of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas), Though created by means of Sattva (the quality of goodness) (constituting) His favourite body, (even) we, the gods, and the Rsis (seers) are unable to know His subtle essence, manifest within (as the inner light) as well as outside (in the shape of existence). How much less can the demons and others, in whom the other qualities (namely, Rajas and Tamas) predominate, do so ? Evolved by Himself, this earth-on which indeed dwells the fourfold living creation (consisting of the viviparous,the oviparous, the sweat-born and the vegetable kingdoms)-constitutes His feet I May that supreme Person-who is surely self-dependent and possessed of infinite power, nay, who is the same as Brahma (the Absolute)-be gracious (to us) ! Similarly water, possessed of vast strength from which proceed the three worlds (earth, heaven and the intermediate region) as well as the guardians of all the spheres and on which they (all) subsist and flourish-constitutes His generative fluid. May that Lord possessed of immense glory, who is the same as Brahma, be gracious(to us)! (In the same way) the Vedas declare the moon-which actually constitutes the food of the gods and (therefore the source of) their strength and life,(nay,) which is the ruler (protector) of plants (inasmuch as it nourishes them by its nectarean rays) and the father of created beings (in that it is favourable to the growth of corn etc., which contain the germ of life)--as His mind. May that Lord possessed of boundless power be gracious to us. Again, fire-which conveys (to the gods, for whom it is intended) whatever is poured into it (by way of oblation), nay, which was brought into existence for the sake of rituals alone (mentioned in the part of the Veda bearing on the same) and which (in the form of gastric fire) constantly assimilates digestible substances (thrown into it and in the form of submarine fire ever consumes the water of the ocean)- came to be His mouth (in the cosmic Body). May that Lord possessed of infinite power be gracious to us ! (Again,) the celebrated sun-god -who figures on the path of the gods (or the bright path, leading gradually to the divine Abode of the Lord), whose body is constituted of the three Vedas (Elk, Yajus and Sama),(nay,) who is (recognized as) a seat of Brahma (in relation to whom Brahma is contemplated upon), who (figuring as he does on the path of the gods) not only represents the door to Liberation, but (as a manifestation of the supreme Deity) is immortality itself and who (being a symbol or Kala or the god of destruction) is characterized as Death (as well)-constitutes His eye. May that Lord possessed of infinite glory be gracious to us. May He propitious to us, the Lord possessed of infinite splendour, from whose life-breath proceeded the air, which, (when manifested) as Prana (the vital air) in relation to the mobile and immobile creation constitutes their strength of mind and body and potency of the Indriyas, and which we (Brahma and others, the deities presiding over the intellect etc have (always) followed as servants would follow an emperor. May He be favourably disposed towards us-the supreme Person possessed of unbounded power, from whose auditory sense sprang up the (four) quarters, (nay,) from (the cavity of whose heart emanated the (various) appertures in the body and from whose navel issued forth the (fivefold) vital air, the (ten) Indriyas (the five senses of perception and the five organs of action), the inner sense, the (other five)airs functioning in the body (viz., Naga, Karma, Krkala Devadatta and Dhananjaya), the body (itself) as well as the ground of (all) these, the ether.