devahutir uvaca

athapy ajo ’ntah-salile sayanam

 bhutendriyarthatma-mayam vapus te

guna-pravaham sad-asesa-bijam

 dadhyau svayam yaj-jatharabja-jatah

 

Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

Devahuti said: Brahma is said to be unborn because he takes birth from the lotus flower which grows from Your abdomen while You lie in the ocean at the bottom of the universe. But even Brahma simply meditated upon You, whose body is the source of unlimited universes.

 

Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

Brahma is also named Aja, “he who is unborn.” Whenever we think of someone’s birth, there must be a material father and mother, for thus one is born. But Brahma, being the first living creature within this universe, was born directly from the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is known as Garbhodakasayi Visnu, the Visnu form lying down in the ocean at the bottom of the universe. Devahuti wanted to impress upon the Lord that when Brahma wants to see Him, he has to meditate upon Him. “You are the seed of all creation,” she said. “Although Brahma was directly born from You, he still has to perform many years of meditation, and even then he cannot see You directly, face to face. Your body is lying within the vast water at the bottom of the universe, and thus You are known as Garbhodakasayi Visnu.”

 

The nature of the Lord’s gigantic body is also explained in this verse. That body is transcendental, untouched by matter. Since the material manifestation has come from His body, His body therefore existed before the material creation. The conclusion is that the transcendental body of Visnu is not made of material elements. The body of Visnu is the source of all other living entities, as well as the material nature, which is also supposed to be the energy of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. Devahuti said, “You are the background of the material manifestation and all created energy; therefore Your delivering me from the clutches of maya by explaining the system of Sankhya philosophy is not so astonishing. But Your being born from my abdomen is certainly wonderful because although You are the source of all creation, You have so kindly taken birth as my child. That is most wonderful. Your body is the source of all the universe, and still You put Your body within the abdomen of a common woman like me. To me, that is most astonishing.”