SB 10.14.10
atah ksamasvacyuta me rajo-bhuvo
hy ajanatas tvat-prthag-isa-maninah
ajavalepandha-tamo-’ndha-caksusa
eso ’nukampyo mayi nathavan iti
Translation:
Therefore, O infallible Lord, kindly excuse my offenses. I have taken birth in the mode of passion and am therefore simply foolish, presuming myself a controller independent of Your Lordship. My eyes are blinded by the darkness of ignorance, which causes me to think of myself as the unborn creator of the universe. But please consider that I am Your servant and therefore worthy of Your compassion.
Purport:
In his commentary, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that Brahma wanted to present the following argument to the Lord: “My dear Lord, because I have acted so badly I certainly deserve to be punished. On the other hand, because I am so ignorant You should consider me an innocent fool and be merciful to me. Thus, although I deserve both punishment and forgiveness, I humbly beg You to exercise tolerance in this matter and simply forgive me and show me Your mercy.”
The words nathavan iti indicate that Lord Brahma wanted to humbly remind Lord Krsna that He was, after all, Brahma’s father and master and should therefore forgive the unfortunate transgressions of His humble servant. Every conditioned soul, whether he be Lord Brahma or an insignificant ant, falsely identifies himself with the material world and in this way forgets his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Brahma, because of his prestigious position as the cosmic creator, also tends to identify himself as the lord of this world, and thus he sometimes forgets his position as an insignificant servant of the Supreme Lord. Now, by Lord Krsna’s mercy, this false identification is being rectified and Lord Brahma is remembering his constitutional position as the eternal servant of God.