Text 44
maitreya uvāca
tasmā evaṁ jagat-sraṣṭre
pradhāna-puruṣeśvaraḥ
vyajyedaṁ svena rūpeṇa
kañja-nābhas tirodadhe
maitreyaḥ uvāca — the sage Maitreya said; tasmai — unto him; evam — thus; jagat-sraṣṭre — unto the creator of the universe; pradhāna-puruṣa-īśvaraḥ — the primeval Lord, the Personality of Godhead; vyajya idam — after instructing this; svena — in His person; rūpeṇa — by the form; kañja-nābhaḥ — the Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa; tirodadhe — disappeared.
The sage Maitreya said: After instructing Brahmā, the creator of the universe, to expand, the primeval Lord, the Personality of Godhead in His personal form as Nārāyaṇa, disappeared.
Before his activity in creating the universe, Brahmā saw the Lord. That is the explanation of the catuḥ-ślokī Bhāgavatam. When the creation awaited Brahmā’s activity, Brahmā saw the Lord, and therefore the Lord existed in His personal form before the creation. His eternal form is not created by the attempt of Brahmā, as imagined by less intelligent men. The Personality of Godhead appeared as He is before Brahmā, and He disappeared from him in the same form, which is not materially tinged.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy.”