Devanagari
कालेन सोऽज: पुरुषायुषाभि-
प्रवृत्तयोगेन विरूढबोध: ।
स्वयं तदन्तर्हृदयेऽवभात-
मपश्यतापश्यत यन्न पूर्वम् ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
kālena so ’jaḥ puruṣāyuṣābhi-
pravṛtta-yogena virūḍha-bodhaḥ
svayaṁ tad antar-hṛdaye ’vabhātam
apaśyatāpaśyata yan na pūrvam
Synonyms
kālena
—
in due course of time
;
saḥ
—
he
;
ajaḥ
—
the self-born Brahmā
;
puruṣa
—
āyuṣā — by the duration of his age
;
abhipravṛtta
—
being engaged
;
yogena
—
in meditation
;
virūḍha
—
developed
;
bodhaḥ
—
intelligence
;
svayam
—
automatically
;
tat antaḥ
—
hṛdaye — in the heart
;
avabhātam
—
manifested
;
apaśyata
—
saw
;
apaśyata
—
did see
;
yat
—
which
;
na
—
not
;
pūrvam
—
before .
Translation
At the end of Brahmā’s one hundred years, when his meditation was complete, he developed the required knowledge, and as a result he could see in his heart the Supreme within himself, whom he could not see before with the greatest endeavor.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By his practice of meditation on the Lord for a hundred human years he attained realization of the Lord. He saw the Lord, who manifested himself in his heart, who could not be seen previously by searching.
Puruṣāyuṣā means “by a hundred years.” This should be understood to be time according to the calculations of human life in Kali-yuga, when Maitreya was speaking. By a mature state reached through meditation on the Lord (abhipravṛtta-yogena), he saw the Lord, since later Brahmā says dhyāne sma no darśitaṁ ta upāsakānām: you have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom your devotees meditate. (SB 3.9.4) He saw the Lord who manifested himself in his heart, whom he could not see when he searched previously for the foundation of his lotus abode.
Purport
The Supreme Lord can be experienced only through the process of devotional service and not by one’s personal endeavor in mental speculation. The age of Brahmā is calculated in terms of
divya
years, which are distinct from the solar years of human beings. The
divya
years are calculated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.17)
:
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ.
Brahmā’s one day is equal to one thousand times the aggregate of the four
yugas
(calculated to be 4,300,000 years). On that basis, Brahmā meditated for one hundred years before he could understand the supreme cause of all causes, and then he wrote the
Brahma-saṁhitā,
which is approved and recognized by Lord Caitanya and in which he sings,
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.
One has to wait for the mercy of the Lord before one can either render service unto Him or know Him as He is.