Text 21
śrī-brahmovāca
bhūmer bhārāvatārāya
purā vijñāpitaḥ prabho
tvam asmābhir aśeṣātman
tat tathaivopapāditam
śrī-brahmā uvāca — Śrī Brahmā said; bhūmeḥ — of the earth; bhāra — the burden; avatārāya — for the sake of diminishing; purā — previously; vijñāpitaḥ — were requested; prabho — O Lord; tvam — You; asmābhiḥ — by us; aśeṣa-ātman — O unlimited Soul of all; tat — that (request); tathā eva — just as expressed by us; upapāditam — was fulfilled.
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, previously we requested You to remove the burden of the earth. O unlimited Personality of Godhead, that request has certainly been fulfilled.
Lord Kṛṣṇa might have said to the demigods, “Actually, you requested Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu to come down, so why are you saying that you requested Me? After all, I am Govinda.” Therefore Brahmā has addressed the Lord here as aśeṣātmā, or the unlimited Personality of Godhead from whom all plenary expansions of Viṣṇu emanate. This is the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.