Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.20.17
Visarga· Brahmā's creationCreative Intelligence Comes by the Lord’s Grace
“When that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean entered the heart of Brahmā, Brahmā brought his intelligence to bear, and with the intelligence invoked he began to create the universe as it was before.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord entered Brahmā’s heart and gave him the intelligence to create the universe as before. Its names and forms followed the previous cosmic manifestation.
- As Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Lord is seated in every living entity’s heart. He gives remembrance and intelligence according to the soul’s desires, capacity and karma.
- Every living entity’s creative power comes by the Lord’s grace, not independently. Even wonderful inventions cannot overcome the stringent laws of material nature or the Lord’s supremacy.
Try this today
Before one task today, offer a brief prayer of gratitude to the Lord for the intelligence to carry it out.
Ask yourself
Do I see my abilities as entirely my own, or as gifts dependent on the Lord’s grace?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.