SB 7.3.9 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सृष्ट्वा चराचरमिदं तपोयोगसमाधिना । अध्यास्ते सर्वधिष्ण्येभ्य: परमेष्ठी निजासनम् ॥ ९ ॥ तदहं वर्धमानेन तपोयोगसमाधिना । कालात्मनोश्च नित्यत्वात्साधयिष्ये तथात्मन: ॥ १० ॥

Verse text

sṛṣṭvā carācaram idaṁ tapo-yoga-samādhinā adhyāste sarva-dhiṣṇyebhyaḥ parameṣṭhī nijāsanam tad ahaṁ vardhamānena tapo-yoga-samādhinā kālātmanoś ca nityatvāt sādhayiṣye tathātmanaḥ

Synonyms

sṛṣṭvā — creating ; cara — moving ; acaram — and not moving ; idam — this ; tapaḥ — of austerity ; yoga — and mystic power ; samādhinā — by practicing the trance ; adhyāste — is situated in ; sarva — dhiṣṇyebhyaḥ — than all the planets, including the heavenly planets ; parameṣṭhī — Lord Brahmā ; nija — āsanam — his own throne ; tat — therefore ; aham — I ; vardhamānena — by dint of increasing ; tapaḥ — austerity ; yoga — mystic powers ; samādhinā — and trance ; kāla — of time ; ātmanoḥ — and of the soul ; ca — and ; nityatvāt — from the eternality ; sādhayiṣye — shall achieve ; tathā — so much ; ātmanaḥ — for my personal self .

Translation

“The supreme person within this universe, Lord Brahmā, has gotten his exalted post by dint of severe austerities, mystic power and trance. Consequently, after creating the universe, he has become the most worshipable demigod within it. Since I am eternal and time is eternal, I shall endeavor for such austerity, mystic power and trance for many, many births, and thus I shall occupy the same post occupied by Lord Brahmā.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Brahmā sits on his throne after creating the universe of moving and non-moving beings by concentration, yoga and austerity. By greater austerity, yoga and concentration of mind I will achieve power greater than that of Brahmā, and achieve his post for myself, since the ātmā and time are eternal. Sarva-dhiṣṇyebhyaḥ vardhamānena means “I will achieve power greater than Brahmā.” “Brahmā has a very long life, and thus performed great austerity a long time. How can you perform such long austerity?” Though my gross body with a short life will be repeatedly destroyed, because time and the ātmā are eternal, after performing austerities for many births, I will achieve the post of Brahmā for myself.

Purport

Hiraṇyakaśipu’s determination was to occupy the post of Lord Brahmā, but this was impossible because Brahmā has a long duration of life. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (8.17) , sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ: one thousand yugas equals one day of Brahmā. The duration of Brahmā’s life is extremely great, and consequently it was impossible for Hiraṇyakaśipu to occupy that post. Nonetheless, his decision was that since the self ( ātmā ) and time are both eternal, if he could not occupy that post in one lifetime he would continue to execute austerities life after life so that sometime he would be able to do so.