SB 5.1.11
sri-bhagavan uvaca
nibodha tatedam rtam bravimi
masuyitum devam arhasy aprameyam
vayam bhavas te tata esa maharsir
vahama sarve vivasa yasya distam
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Lord Brahma, the supreme person within this universe, said: My dear Priyavrata, kindly hear attentively what I shall say to you. Do not be jealous of the Supreme Lord, who is beyond our experimental measurements. All of us, including Lord Siva, your father and the great sage Maharsi Narada, must carry out the order of the Supreme. We cannot deviate from His order.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Of the twelve great authorities in devotional service, four — Lord Brahma himself, his son Narada, Svayambhuva Manu and Lord Siva — were present before Priyavrata. They were accompanied by many other authoritative sages. Brahma first wanted to impress upon Priyavrata that although these great personalities are all authorities, they cannot possibly disobey the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is described in this verse as deva, which means “always glorious.” The power, glory and potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be diminished. In the Isopanisad, the Lord is described as apapa-viddha, which indicates that He is never affected by anything materially considered sinful. Similarly, Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the Supreme Personality of Godhead as being so powerful that nothing we might consider abominable can affect Him. An example sometimes given to explain the position of the Supreme Lord is that of the sun, which evaporates urine from the earth but is never affected by contamination. The Supreme Lord can never be accused of doing anything wrong.
When Lord Brahma went to induce Priyavrata to accept the responsibility for ruling the universe, he did not go whimsically; he was following the dictations of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, Brahma and other genuine authorities never do anything without His permission. The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye: the Lord dictated Vedic knowledge to Brahma through his heart. The more a living entity is purified by devotional service, the more he comes in direct contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in Srimad Bhagavad-gita:
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10) Lord Brahma, therefore, had not come to Priyavrata by his own whims: rather, it is understood that he had been ordered to persuade Priyavrata by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose activities cannot be understood by material senses and who is therefore described herein as aprameya. Thus Lord Brahma first advised Priyavrata to hear his words with attention and without envy.
Why one is induced to perform certain acts despite his desire to do something else is indicated herein. One cannot disobey the orders of the Supreme Lord, even if one is as powerful as Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, Manu or the great sage Narada. All these authorities are certainly very powerful, but they do not have the power to disobey the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since Lord Brahma had come to Priyavrata in accordance with the orders of the Supreme Lord, he first wanted to dispel any suspicions that he might be acting as Priyavrata’s enemy. Lord Brahma was following the orders of the Supreme Lord, and therefore it would be worthwhile for Priyavrata to accept Lord Brahma’s order, as the Lord desired.