śrī-bhagavān uvāca
evaḿ pṛṣṭo mahā-devaḥ
svayambhūr bhūta-bhāvanaḥ
dhyāyamānaḥ praśna-bījaḿ
nābhyapadyata karma-dhīḥ
sri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; evam -- thus; prishtah -- questioned; maha-devah -- the great god Brahma; svayam-bhuh -- without material birth (born directly from the body of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu); bhuta -- of all conditioned souls; bhavanah -- the creator (of their conditioned life); dhyayamanah -- seriously considering; prasna -- of the question; bijam -- the essential truth; na abhyapadyata -- did not reach; karma-dhih -- intelligence bewildered by his own activities of creation.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, Brahma himself, who is born directly from the body of the Lord and who is the creator of all living entities within the material world, being the best of the demigods, seriously contemplated the question of his sons headed by Sanaka. The intelligence of Brahma, however, was affected by his own activities of creation, and thus he could not discover the essential answer to this question.
Srila Jiva Gosvami has quoted three verses from the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam as follows. In the Ninth Chapter, verse 32, Lord Krishna blessed Brahma with realized knowledge of the Lord's actual form, qualities and activities. In the Ninth Chapter, verse 37, the Lord ordered Brahma to rigidly carry out the Lord's injunctions and affirmed that Brahma would thus never be bewildered in his cosmic decision-making. In the Sixth Chapter, verse 34, Lord Brahma assured his son Narada, "O Narada, because I have caught hold of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, with great zeal, whatever I say has never proved to have been false, nor is the progress of my mind ever deterred, nor are my senses ever degraded by temporary attachment to matter."
In the present verse in this Thirteenth Chapter of the Eleventh Canto, Lord Krishna states that Brahma unfortunately did become bewildered by his creative functions, thus providing a grave lesson to all of the Lord's empowered representatives. Although one may be elevated to an exalted position in the Lord's transcendental service, at any moment there is danger of false pride polluting one's devotional mentality.
