idaá¹ bhagavatÄ pÅ«rvaá¹
brahmaṇe nÄbhi-paá¹…kaje
sthitÄya bhava-bhÄ«tÄya
kÄruṇyÄt samprakÄÅ›itam
idam - this; bhagavatÄ - by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pÅ«rvam - first; brahmaṇe - to BrahmÄ; nÄbhi-paá¹…kaje - upon the lotus growing from the navel; sthitÄya - who was situated; bhava - of material existence; bhÄ«tÄya - who was fearful; kÄruṇyÄt - out of mercy; samprakÄÅ›itam - was fully revealed.
Lord Kṛṣṇa enlightened BrahmÄ with the knowledge of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam before the creation of this universe, as indicated here by the word pÅ«rvam. Also, the first verse of the BhÄgavatam states, tene brahma há¹›dÄ ya Ädi-kavaye: “Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded perfect knowledge into the heart of Lord BrahmÄ.†Because conditioned souls can experience only temporary objects, which are created, maintained and destroyed, they cannot readily understand that ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam is an eternal, transcendental literature nondifferent from the Absolute Truth.
As stated in the Muṇá¸aka Upaniá¹£ad (1.1.1):
brahmÄ devÄnÄá¹ prathamaḥ sambabhÅ«va
viÅ›vasya kartÄ bhuvanasya goptÄ
sa brahma-vidyÄá¹ sarva-vidyÄ-pratiá¹£á¹hÄm
atharvÄya jyeá¹£á¹ha-putrÄya prÄha
“Among all the demigods, BrahmÄ was the first to take birth. He is the creator of this universe and also its protector. To his eldest son, AtharvÄ, He instructed the spiritual science of the self, which is the basis of all other branches of knowledge.†Despite his exalted position, however, BrahmÄ still fears the influence of the Lord’s illusory potency. Thus this energy seems virtually insurmountable. But Lord Caitanya is so kind that during His missionary activities in eastern and southern India, He freely distributed Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone, urging them to become teachers of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. Lord Caitanya, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, encouraged the people by saying, “By My order just become a teacher of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s message and save this country. I assure you that the waves of mÄyÄ will never stop your progress.†(Cc. Madhya 7.128)
If we give up all sinful activities and engage constantly in the saá¹…kÄ«rtana movement of Caitanya MahÄprabhu, victory is assured in our personal lives and also in our missionary efforts.