tal loka-padmaṠsa u eva viṣṇuḥ
prÄvÄ«viÅ›at sarva-guṇÄvabhÄsam
tasmin svayaá¹ vedamayo vidhÄtÄ
svayambhuvaṠyaṠsma vadanti so 'bhūt
tat - that; loka - universal; padmam - lotus flower; saḥ - He; u - certainly; eva - factually; viṣṇuḥ - the Lord; prÄvÄ«viÅ›at - entered into; sarva - all; guṇa-avabhÄsam - reservoir of all modes of nature; tasmin - in which; svayam - in person; veda-mayaḥ - the personality of Vedic wisdom; vidhÄtÄ - controller of the universe; svayam-bhuvam - self-born; yam - whom; sma - in the past; vadanti - do say; saḥ - he; abhÅ«t - generated.
This lotus flower is the universal virÄá¹ form, or the gigantic form of the Lord in the material world. It becomes amalgamated in the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, in His abdomen, at the time of dissolution, and it becomes manifest at the time of creation. This is due to GarbhodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu, who enters into each of the universes. In this form is the sum total of all the fruitive activities of the living entities conditioned by material nature, and the first of them, namely BrahmÄ, or the controller of the universe, is generated from this lotus flower. This first-born living being, unlike all the others, has no material father, and thus he is called self-born, or svayambhÅ«. He goes to sleep with NÄrÄyaṇa at the time of devastation, and when there is another creation, he is born in this way. From this description we have the conception of three — the gross virÄá¹ form, the subtle Hiraṇyagarbha and the material creative force, BrahmÄ.