तद्विलोक्याब्जसम्भूतो वायुना यदधिष्ठितः ।
पद्ममम्भश्च तत्काल कृतवीर्येण कम्पितम् ॥५॥

tad vilokyÄbja-sambhÅ«to
vÄyunÄ yad-adhiṣṭhitaḥ
padmam ambhaÅ› ca tat-kÄla-
kṛta-vīryeṇa kampitam

 tat vilokya - looking into that; abja-sambhÅ«taḥ - whose source of birth was a lotus; vÄyunÄ - by the air; yat - that; adhiṣṭhitaḥ - on which he was situated; padmam - lotus; ambhaḥ - water; ca - also; tat-kÄla-ká¹›ta - which was effected by eternal time; vÄ«ryeṇa - by its inherent force; kampitam - trembling.


Text

Thereafter BrahmÄ saw that both the lotus on which he was situated and the water on which the lotus was growing were trembling due to a strong, violent wind.

Purport

The material world is called illusory because it is a place of forgetfulness of the transcendental service of the Lord. Thus one engaged in the Lord’s devotional service in the material world may sometimes be very much disturbed by awkward circumstances. There is a declaration of war between the two parties, the illusory energy and the devotee, and sometimes the weak devotees fall victim to the onslaught of the powerful illusory energy. Lord BrahmÄ, however, was sufficiently strong, by the causeless mercy of the Lord, and he could not be victimized by the material energy, although it gave him cause for anxiety when it managed to totter the existence of his position.