अहं भवो यज्ञ इमे प्रजेशा दक्षादयो ये भवदादयश्च स्वर्लोकपालाः खगलोकपाला नृलोकपालास्तललोकपालाः गन्धर्वविद्याधरचारणेशा ये यक्षरक्षोरगनागनाथाः ये वा ऋषीणामृषभाः पितॄणां दैत्येन्द्रसिद्धेश्वरदानवेन्द्राः अन्ये च ये प्रेतपिशाचभूत कूष्माण्डयादोमृगपक्ष्यधीशाः यत्किंच लोके भगवन्महस्वदोजःसहस्वद्बलवत्क्षमावत् श्रीह्रीविभूत्यात्मवदद्भुतार्णं तत्त्वं परं रूपवदस्वरूपम्
ahaṁ bhavo yajña ime prajeśā dakṣādayo ye bhavad-ādayaś ca svarloka-pālāḥ khagaloka-pālā nṛloka-pālās talaloka-pālāḥ gandharva-vidyādhara-cāraṇeśā ye yakṣa-rakṣoraga-nāganāthāḥ ye vā ṛṣīṇām ṛṣabhāḥ pitṝṇāṁ daityendra-siddheśvara-dānavendrāḥ anye ca ye preta-piśāca-bhūta- kūṣmāṇḍa-yādo-mṛga-pakṣyadhīśāḥ yat kiñca loke bhagavan mahasvad ojaḥ-sahasvad balavat kṣamāvat śrī-hrī-vibhūty-ātmavad adbhutārṇaṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ rūpavad asvarūpam
Synonyms
aham—myself (Brahmājī); bhavaḥ—Lord Śiva; yajñaḥ—Lord Viṣṇu; ime—all these; prajeśāḥ—the father of the living beings; dakṣa-ādayaḥ—Dakṣa; ye—those; bhavat—yourself; ādayaḥ ca—and the bachelors (Sanat-kumāra and his brothers); svarloka-pālāḥ—the leaders of the heavenly planets; khagaloka-pālāḥ—the leaders of space travellers; nṛloka-pālāḥ—the leaders of mankind; talaloka-pālāḥ—the leaders of the lower planets; gandharva—the residents of Gandharvaloka; vidyādhara—the residents of the Vidyādhara planet; cāraṇa-īśāḥ—the leaders of the Cāraṇas; ye—as also others; yakṣa—the leaders of the Yakṣas; rakṣa—demons; uraga—snakes; nāga-nāthāḥ—leaders of the Nāgaloka (below the earth); ye—others; vā—also; ṛṣīṇām—of the sages; ṛṣabhāḥ—the chief; pitṝṇām—of the forefathers; daitya-indra—leaders of the atheists; siddha-īśvaras—leaders of the Siddhaloka planets (spacemen); dānava-indrāḥ—leaders of the non-Āryans; anye—besides them; ca—also; ye—those; preta—dead bodies; piśāca—evil spirit; bhūta—jinn; kūṣmāṇḍa—a special type of evil spirit; yādaḥ—aquatics; mṛga—animals; pakṣi-adhīśāḥ—giant eagles; yat—anything; kim ca—and everything; loke—in the world; bhagavat—possessed of bhaga, or extraordinary power; mahasvat—of a special degree; ojaḥ-sahasvat—specific mental and sense dexterity; balavat—possessed of strength; kṣamāvat—possessed of forgiveness; śrī—beauty; hrī—ashamed of impious acts; vibhūti—riches; ātmavat—possessed of intelligence; adbhuta—wonderful; arṇam—race; tattvam—specific truth; param—transcendental; rūpavat—as if the form of; asvarūpam—not the form of the Lord..
Translation
Myself [Brahmā], Lord Śiva, Lord Viṣṇu, great generators of living beings like Dakṣa and Prajāpati, yourselves [Nārada and the Kumāras], heavenly demigods like Indra, Candra, etc., the leaders of the Bhūrloka planets, the leaders of the earthly planets, the leaders of the lower planets, the leaders of the Gandharva planets, the leaders of the Vidyādhara planets, the leaders of the Cāraṇaloka planets, the leaders of the Yakṣas, Rakṣas and Uragas, the great sages, the great demons, the great atheists and the great spacemen, as well as the dead bodies, evil spirits, satans, jinn, kūṣmāṇḍas, great aquatics, great beasts and great birds, etc.—in other words, anything and everything which is exceptionally possessed of power, opulence, mental and perceptual dexterity, strength, forgiveness, beauty, modesty, opulence, and breeding, which is either in form or is formless—may appear to be the specific truth and the form of the Lord, but actually are not so. They are only a fragment of the transcendental potency of the Lord.
Purport
Those in the list given above, beginning from the name of Brahmājī, the first living creature within the universe, down to Lord Śiva, Lord Viṣṇu, Nārada and other powerful demigods, men, supermen, sages, ṛṣis, and other lower creatures of extraordinary strength and opulence, including the dead bodies, satans, evil spirits, jinn, aquatics, birds and beasts, etc., may appear to be the Supreme Lord, but factually none of them is the Supreme Lord; every one of them possesses only a fragment of the great potencies of the Supreme Lord. The less intelligent class of men is surprised to see the wonderful actions of material phenomena, as the aborigines are fearful of a great thunderbolt, a great and gigantic banyan tree, or a great lofty mountain in the jungle. For such undeveloped human beings, merely the slight display of the Lord's potency is captivating. A still more advanced person is captivated by the powers of the demigods and goddesses. Therefore, those who are simply astonished by the powers of anything in the creation of the Lord, without any factual information of the Lord Himself, are known as Śaktas, or worshipers of the great powers. The modern scientist is also captivated by the wonderful actions and reactions of natural phenomena and therefore is also Śakta. These lower grade persons gradually rise to states of becoming Sauriyas, or worshipers of the sun-god, Gāṇapatyas, or worshipers of the mass of people as janatājanārdana or daridrya-nārāyaṇa, etc., in the form of Gaṇapati, and then rise to the platform of worshiping Lord Śiva in search for the ever-existing soul, and then to the stage of worshiping Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul, etc., without any information of Govinda or Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the original Lord Viṣṇu. In other ways some are worshipers of race, nationality, birds, beasts, evil spirits, satans, etc. The general worship of Śanideva, the lord of distressful condition, and Śitalādevī, the goddess of smallpox, is also common to the mass of people, and there are many foolish men who worship the mass of people or the poor class of men. So different persons, societies and communities, etc., worship some of the potential manifestations of the Lord, wrongly accepting the powerful object as God. But in this verse it is advised by Brahmājī that none of them is the Supreme Lord, but they are only borrowed plumes from the original Almighty Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. When the Lord advises in Bhagavad-gītā to worship Him alone, it is to be understood that worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa includes worshiping all that is mentioned, because He, Lord Kṛṣṇa, includes everyone.
When the Lord is described as formless in the Vedic literatures, it is to be understood that all these forms mentioned above, within the experience of universal knowledge, are different exhibitions of the Lord's transcendental potencies only, and none of them factually represent the transcendental form of the Lord. But at the same time, when the Lord actually descends on the earth or anywhere within the universe, the less intelligent class of men also mistake Him to be one of them, and thus they imagine the Transcendence to be formless or impersonal. Factually, the Lord is not formless, nor does He belong to any of the multiforms experienced within the universal forms. One should try to know the truth about the Lord by following the instruction of Brahmājī.