ajānatāḿ tvat-padavīm anātmany
ātmātmanā bhāsi vitatya māyām
sṛṣṭāv ivāhaḿ jagato vidhāna
iva tvam eṣo 'nta iva trinetraḥ
ajanatam -- to persons who are in ignorance; tvat-padavim -- of Your transcendental position; anatmani -- in the material energy; atma -- Yourself; atmana -- by Yourself; bhasi -- appear; vitatya -- expanding; mayam -- Your inconceivable energy; srishtau -- in the matter of creation; iva -- as if; aham -- I, Brahma; jagatah -- of the universe; vidhane -- in the maintenance; iva -- as if; tvam eshah -- Yourself; ante -- in the annihilation; iva -- as if; tri-netrah -- Lord Siva.
To persons ignorant of Your actual transcendental position, You appear as part of the material world, manifesting Yourself by the expansion of Your inconceivable energy. Thus for the creation of the universe You appear as me [Brahma], for its maintenance You appear as Yourself [Vishnu], and for its annihilation You appear as Lord Trinetra [Siva].
Although the impersonal Mayavadi philosophers think that the demigods are illusory, Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu are stated here to be expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are thus real. Indeed, they are the extraordinarily powerful controllers of the universe. The ultimate truth is a supreme and beautiful person, and thus throughout the creation of God we will always find the personal touch.
