brāhme muhūrta utthāya
vāry upaspṛśya mādhavaḥ
dadhyau prasanna-karaṇa
ātmānaḿ tamasaḥ param
ekaḿ svayaḿ-jyotir ananyam avyayaḿ
sva-saḿsthayā nitya-nirasta-kalmaṣam
brahmākhyam asyodbhava-nāśa-hetubhiḥ
sva-śaktibhir lakṣita-bhāva-nirvṛtim
brahme muhurte -- during the most suitable period of the day for spiritual activity, before sunrise; utthaya -- rising; vari -- water; upasprisya -- touching; madhavah -- Lord Krishna; dadhyau -- meditated; prasanna -- clear; karanah -- His mind; atmanam -- upon Himself; tamasah -- ignorance; param -- beyond; ekam -- exclusive; svayam-jyotih -- self-luminous; ananyam -- without another; avyayam -- infallible; sva-samsthaya -- by His own nature; nitya -- perpetually; nirasta -- dispelling; kalmasham -- contamination; brahma-akhyam -- known as Brahman, the Absolute Truth; asya -- of this (universe); udbhava -- of creation; nasa -- and destruction; hetubhih -- by the causes; sva -- His own; saktibhih -- energies; lakshita -- manifest; bhava -- existence; nirvritim -- joy.
Lord Madhava would rise during the brahma-muhurta period and touch water. With a clear mind He would then meditate upon Himself, the single, self-luminous, unequaled and infallible Supreme Truth, known as Brahman, who by His very nature ever dispels all contamination, and who through His personal energies, which cause the creation and destruction of this universe, manifests His own pure and blissful existence.
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura points out that the word bhava in this verse indicates the created beings. Thus the compound word lakshita-bhava-nirvritim means that Lord Krishna gives pleasure to the created beings through His various energies. Of course, the soul is never created, but our material, conditioned existence is created by the interaction of the Lord's energies.
One who is favored by the Lord's internal potency can understand the nature of the Absolute Truth; this understanding is called Krishna consciousness. In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna explains that His energies are divided into inferior and superior, or material and spiritual, potencies. The Brahma-samhita further explains that the material potency acts like a shadow, following the movements of the spiritual reality, which is the Lord Himself and His spiritual potency. When one is favored by Lord Krishna, He reveals Himself to the surrendered soul, and thus the same creation that formerly covered the soul becomes an impetus for spiritual enlightenment.
