SB 10.40.3
naite svarupam vidur atmanas te
hy ajadayo ’natmataya grhitah
ajo ’nubaddhah sa gunair ajaya
gunat param veda na te svarupam
Translation:
The total material nature and these other elements of creation certainly cannot know You as You are, for they are manifested in the realm of dull matter. Since You are beyond the modes of nature, even Lord Brahma, who is bound up in these modes, does not know Your true identity.
Purport:
God is transcendental to material nature. Unless we also transcend the limited consciousness of material existence, we cannot know Him. Even the greatest living entity in the universe, Brahma, cannot understand the Supreme unless he comes to the platform of pure Krsna consciousness.