tac cej jala-sthaṁ tava saj jagad-vapuḥ
kiṁ me na dṛṣṭaṁ bhagavaṁs tadaiva
kiṁ vā su-dṛṣṭaṁ hṛdi me tadaiva
kiṁ no sapady eva punar vyadarśi
tat - that; cet - if; jala-stham - situated upon the water; tava - Your; sat - real; jagat - sheltering the entire universe; vapuḥ - the transcendental body; kim - why; me - by me; na dṛṣṭam - was not seen; bhagavan - O Supreme Lord; tadā eva - at that very time; kim - why; vā - or; su-dṛṣṭam - perfectly seen; hṛdi - within the heart; me - by me; tadā eva - just then; kim - why; na - not; u - on the other hand; sapadi - suddenly; eva - indeed; punaḥ - again; vyadarśi - was seen.
My dear Lord, if Your transcendental body, which shelters the entire universe, is actually lying upon the water, then why were You not seen by me when I searched for You? And why, though I could not envision You properly within my heart, did You then suddenly reveal Yourself?
Lord Brahmā here refers to his experience at the dawn of cosmic creation. As described in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā took birth on the seat of a giant lotus whose stem emanated from the navel of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā was bewildered as to his whereabouts, function and identity, and therefore he tried to trace out the source of the lotus stem, searching for clear information. Unable to find the Personality of Godhead, he returned to his seat and engaged in severe austerities, having been ordered to do so by the transcendental voice of the Lord, who could be heard but not seen. After long meditation, Brahmā saw the Lord but then again lost sight of Him. Thus Brahmā concludes that the transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead is not material but rather an eternal, spiritual form endowed with inconceivable mystic potencies. In other words, Lord Brahmā should not have challenged the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of all mystic power.
