SB 3.12.33 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स इत्थं गृणत: पुत्रान् पुरो दृष्ट्वा प्रजापतीन् । प्रजापतिपतिस्तन्वं तत्याज व्रीडितस्तदा । तां दिशो जगृहुर्घोरां नीहारं यद्विदुस्तम: ॥ ३३ ॥

Verse text

sa itthaṁ gṛṇataḥ putrān puro dṛṣṭvā prajāpatīn prajāpati-patis tanvaṁ tatyāja vrīḍitas tadā tāṁ diśo jagṛhur ghorāṁ nīhāraṁ yad vidus tamaḥ

Synonyms

saḥ — he (Brahmā) ; ittham — thus ; gṛṇataḥ — speaking ; putrān — sons ; puraḥ — before ; dṛṣṭvā — seeing ; prajā — patīn — all the progenitors of living entities ; prajāpati — patiḥ — the father of them (Brahmā) ; tanvam — body ; tatyāja — quit ; vrīḍitaḥ — ashamed ; tadā — at that time ; tām — that body ; diśaḥ — all directions ; jagṛhuḥ — accepted ; ghorām — blamable ; nīhāram — fog ; yat — which ; viduḥ — they know as ; tamaḥ — darkness .

Translation

The father of all Prajāpatis, Brahmā, thus seeing all his Prajāpati sons speaking in that way, became very much ashamed and at once gave up the body he had accepted. Later that body appeared in all directions as the dangerous fog in darkness.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Seeing his sons, the Prajāpatis, speak before him in this way, Brahmā, their father, gave up his previous disposition in shame. The directions accepted that disposition, a terrible fog, which is known as darkness. Giving up his body indicates that the chief remedial measure for great sin is death. Since it is impossible for Brahmā to die before his life span of two parardhas is complete, “giving up his body” means “giving up a disposition.” The directions are covered with darkness even today.

Purport

The best way to compensate for one’s sinful acts is to give up one’s body at once, and Brahmā, the leader of the living entities, showed this by his personal example. Brahmā has a fabulous duration of life, but he was obliged to give up his body due to his grievous sin, even though he had merely contemplated it in his mind without having actually done it. This is a lesson for the living entities, showing how sinful an act it is to indulge in unrestricted sex life. Even to think of abominable sex life is sinful, and to compensate for such acts, one has to give up his body. In other words, one’s duration of life, blessings, opulence, etc., are decreased by sinful acts, and the most dangerous type of sinful act is unrestricted sex. Ignorance is the cause of sinful life, or sinful life is the cause of gross ignorance. The feature of ignorance is darkness or fog. Darkness or fog still covers the whole universe, and the sun is the only counteracting principle. One who takes shelter of the Lord, the perpetual light, has no fear of being annihilated in the darkness of fog or ignorance.