Devanagari
कदाचिद् ध्यायत: स्रष्टुर्वेदा आसंश्चतुर्मुखात् ।
कथं स्रक्ष्याम्यहं लोकान् समवेतान् यथा पुरा ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
kadācid dhyāyataḥ sraṣṭur
vedā āsaṁś catur-mukhāt
kathaṁ srakṣyāmy ahaṁ lokān
samavetān yathā purā
Synonyms
kadācit
—
once upon a time
;
dhyāyataḥ
—
while contemplating
;
sraṣṭuḥ
—
of Brahmā
;
vedāḥ
—
the Vedic literature
;
āsan
—
became manifested
;
catuḥ
—
mukhāt — from the four mouths
;
katham srakṣyāmi
—
how shall I create
;
aham
—
myself
;
lokān
—
all these worlds
;
samavetān
—
assembled
;
yathā
—
as they were
;
purā
—
in the past .
Translation
Once upon a time, when Brahmā was thinking of how to create the worlds as in the past millennium, the four Vedas, which contain all varieties of knowledge, became manifested from his four mouths.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
At one time, when Brahmā was meditating on how to create all the worlds as he had done previously, the Vedas appeared from the four mouths of Brahmā.
It is said:
dharma-vyatikramo dṛṣṭa īśvarāṇāṁ ca sāhasam
tejīyasāṁ na doṣāya vahneḥ sarva-bhujo yathā
The status of powerful controllers is not harmed by any apparently audacious transgression of morality we may see in them, for they are just like fire, which devours everything fed into it and remains unpolluted. SB 10.33.29
Thus one should not worry that Brahmā was contaminated for being attracted to his daughter. To express this, the power of Brahmā is described in this verse. His position will be described later in the chapter:
śabda-brahmātmanas tasya vyaktāvyaktātmanaḥ paraḥ
brahmāvabhāti vitato nānā-śakty-upabṛṁhitaḥ
The Supreme Lord who is impersonal Brahman and the personal Lord filled with various śaktis, makes his appearance as Brahmā, whose body is composed of the Vedas, which is audible sound as vaikhari and inaudible as oṁ. . SB 3.12.48
Thus, meditating on how to create as he had done previously, the Vedas appeared. This means that the complete method of creation exists in the Vedas. By consulting the Vedas, he could follow the order of the Lord to carry out creation with ease.
Purport
As a fire can consume anything and everything without being contaminated, so, by the grace of the Lord, the fire of Brahmā’s greatness consumed his desire for the sinful act of sex with his daughter. The
Vedas
are the source of all knowledge, and they were first revealed to Brahmā by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead while Brahmā was thinking of re-creating the material world. Brahmā is powerful by dint of his devotional service unto the Lord, and the Lord is always ready to forgive His devotee if by chance he falls down from the noble path of devotional service. The
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(11.5.42)
confirms this as follows:
sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktvānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathaṣ-cid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sannviṣṭaḥ
“Any person who is engaged one hundred percent in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, at His lotus feet, is very dear to the Personality of Godhead Hari, and the Lord, being situated in the heart of the devotee, excuses all kinds of sins committed by chance.” It was never expected that a great personality like Brahmā would ever think of sex indulgence with his daughter. The example shown by Brahmā only suggests that the power of material nature is so strong that it can act upon everyone, even Brahmā. Brahmā was saved by the mercy of the Lord with a little punishment, but by the grace of the Lord he did not lose his prestige as the great Brahmā.