SB 7.9.34 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तत्सम्भव: कविरतोऽन्यदपश्यमान- स्त्वां बीजमात्मनि ततं स बहिर्विचिन्त्य । नाविन्ददब्दशतमप्सु निमज्जमानो जातेऽङ्कुरे कथमुहोपलभेत बीजम् ॥ ३४ ॥

Verse text

tat-sambhavaḥ kavir ato ’nyad apaśyamānas tvāṁ bījam ātmani tataṁ sa bahir vicintya nāvindad abda-śatam apsu nimajjamāno jāte ’ṅkure katham uhopalabheta bījam

Synonyms

tat — sambhavaḥ — who was generated from that lotus flower ; kaviḥ — he who can understand the subtle cause of creation (Lord Brahmā) ; ataḥ — from that (lotus) ; anyat — anything else ; apaśyamānaḥ — not able to see ; tvām — Your Lordship ; bījam — the cause of the lotus ; ātmani — in himself ; tatam — expanded ; saḥ — he (Lord Brahmā) ; bahiḥ vicintya — considering to be external ; na — not ; avindat — understood (You) ; abda — śatam — for a hundred years according to the demigods* ; </a> apsu — in the water ; nimajjamānaḥ — diving ; jāte aṅkure — when the seed fructifies and is manifested as a creeper ; katham — how ; uha — O my Lord ; upalabheta — one can perceive ; bījam — the seed that has already fructified .

Translation

From that great lotus flower, Brahmā was generated, but Brahmā certainly could see nothing but the lotus. Therefore, thinking You to be outside, Lord Brahmā dove into the water and attempted to find the source of the lotus for one hundred years. He could find no trace of You, however, for when a seed fructifies, the original seed cannot be seen.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Brahmā, who arose from the lotus, could not see anything except the lotus. He thought that you, who were spread within him, were somewhere outside. Thus searching for a hundred years he could not find you. How can one find the seed in the spout? He then dove into the water to search out the root. Brahmā, arising from the lotus, was not able to see anything else. Considering that you, who are spread within him as the material cause by your śakti, were outside of him, he could not find you after searching for a hundred years. The reasoning is this. Oh! When a seed sprouts, how can one perceive the seed which still exists in the spout? But one can perceive the seed at the base. Even though the lotus sprout is destroyed, it is seen that the seed still remains. But Brahmā could not go to the root.

Purport

This is the description of the cosmic manifestation. The development of the cosmic manifestation is like the fructification of a seed. When cotton is transformed into thread, the cotton is no longer visible, and when the thread is woven into cloth, the thread is no longer visible. Similarly, it is perfectly correct that when the seed that had generated from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu became manifested as the cosmic creation, one could no longer understand where the cause of the cosmic manifestation is. Modern scientists have tried to explain the origin of creation by a chunk theory, but no one can explain how such a chunk might have burst. The Vedic literature, however, explains clearly that the total material energy was agitated by the three modes of material nature because of the glance of the Supreme Lord. In other words, in terms of the chunk theory, the bursting of the chunk was caused by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus one must accept the supreme cause, Lord Viṣṇu, as the cause of all causes.