Text 56
tato ’tikutukodvṛtya-
stimitaikādaśendriyaḥ
tad-dhāmnābhūd ajas tūṣṇīṁ
pūr-devy-antīva putrikā
tataḥ — then; atikutuka-udvṛtya-stimita-ekādaśa-indriyaḥ — whose eleven senses had all been jolted by great astonishment and then stunned by transcendental bliss; tad-dhāmnā — by the effulgence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis; abhūt — became; ajaḥ — Lord Brahmā; tūṣṇīm — silent; pūḥ-devī-anti — in the presence of a village deity (grāmya-devatā); iva — just as; putrikā — a clay doll made by a child.
Then, by the power of the effulgence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis, Lord Brahmā, his eleven senses jolted by astonishment and stunned by transcendental bliss, became silent, just like a child’s clay doll in the presence of the village deity.
Brahmā was stunned because of transcendental bliss (muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ). In his astonishment, all his senses were stunned, and he was unable to say or do anything. Brahmā had considered himself absolute, thinking himself the only powerful deity, but now his pride was subdued, and he again became merely one of the demigods — an important demigod, of course, but a demigod nonetheless. Brahmā, therefore, cannot be compared to God — Kṛṣṇa, or Nārāyaṇa. It is forbidden to compare Nārāyaṇa even to demigods like Brahmā and Śiva, what to speak of others.
yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ
brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ
samatvenaiva vīkṣeta
sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
“One who considers demigods like Brahmā and Śiva to be on an equal level with Nārāyaṇa must certainly be considered an offender.” We should not equate the demigods with Nārāyaṇa, for even Śaṅkarācārya has forbidden this (nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt). Also, as mentioned in the Vedas, eko nārāyaṇa āsīn na brahmā neśānaḥ: “In the beginning of creation there was only the Supreme Personality, Nārāyaṇa, and there was no existence of Brahmā or Śiva.” Therefore, one who at the end of his life remembers Nārāyaṇa attains the perfection of life (ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ).