Text 19
ajānatāṁ tvat-padavīm anātmany
ātmātmanā bhāsi vitatya māyām
sṛṣṭāv ivāhaṁ jagato vidhāna
iva tvam eṣo ’nta iva trinetraḥ
ajānatām — to persons who are in ignorance; tvat-padavīm — of Your transcendental position; anātmani — in the material energy; ātmā — Yourself; ātmanā — by Yourself; bhāsi — appear; vitatya — expanding; māyām — Your inconceivable energy; sṛṣṭau — in the matter of creation; iva — as if; aham — I, Brahmā; jagataḥ — of the universe; vidhāne — in the maintenance; iva — as if; tvam eṣaḥ — Yourself; ante — in the annihilation; iva — as if; tri-netraḥ — Lord Śiva.
To persons ignorant of Your actual transcendental position, You appear as part of the material world, manifesting Yourself by the expansion of Your inconceivable energy. Thus for the creation of the universe You appear as me [Brahmā], for its maintenance You appear as Yourself [Viṣṇu], and for its annihilation You appear as Lord Trinetra [Śiva].
Although the impersonal Māyāvādī philosophers think that the demigods are illusory, Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu are stated here to be expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are thus real. Indeed, they are the extraordinarily powerful controllers of the universe. The ultimate truth is a supreme and beautiful person, and thus throughout the creation of God we will always find the personal touch.