Enlightening the First Being

Next Vyasadeva says, "tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye": "I worship the Supreme Lord Vasudeva, Krsna, who imparted knowledge to the first created living being, Brahma." We receive knowledge from our parents, teachers, brothers and sisters; in many ways we take knowledge from others because when we come into this life we are not in knowledge but in ignorance. Similarly, Brahma, the first created living being, received knowledge from the Lord. We are created by our mothers and fathers, who in turn are created by their mothers and fathers, and if we could trace out our ancestry to its very beginning, we would come to the individual named Brahma, who is the first created living being. He was born first, and from him all other population has sprouted. Therefore, how did Brahma acquire knowledge? God enlightened him through consciousness. If my teacher is conscious and I am conscious, he can teach me, and there can be a transmission of knowledge. Therefore tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye indicates that the Supreme Lord imparted knowledge to Brahma through consciousness. Both God, the Supreme, and Brahma, the first created being, are conscious. Thus the Supreme Lord gave knowledge to Brahma directly by enlightening him from within his heart.

God is situated within the heart of every living being. This is another aspect of the Supreme upon which one can meditate. He imparts knowledge unto us also because although it has become widely dispersed and different parties have claimed proprietorship, all knowledge within the universe originally comes from Brahma and has been handed down through time. And Brahma received his knowledge from Krsna. Thus the full significance of the words tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye is that knowledge comes to everyone by the agency of the Supreme Lord. This is another way in which Vyasadeva is meditating. It is his desire to present knowledge of the Supreme, and in order to synthesize his enlightenment and gain inspiration, he is meditating in this way on the Lord, thus fixing his mind.

The state in which one fixes his consciousness by viewing the Supreme from many different angles is called samadhi, or trance. In that state of samadhi one is fully God-conscious. This verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam serves many purposes, for it not only informs us of Vyasadeva's meditation but gives us an opportunity to concentrate in the same way. If we want to become God conscious, we can follow the example of Vyasadeva in meditating upon the Supreme.