ŚB 3.8.17
Devanagari
जलोर्मिचक्रात्सलिलाद्विरूढम् ।
उपाश्रित: कञ्जमु लोकतत्त्वं
नात्मानमद्धाविददादिदेव: ॥ १७ ॥
Text
jalormi-cakrāt salilād virūḍham
upāśritaḥ kañjam u loka-tattvaṁ
nātmānam addhāvidad ādi-devaḥ
Synonyms
tasmāt — from there; yuga-anta — at the end of the millennium; śvasana — the air of devastation; avaghūrṇa — because of movement; jala — water; ūrmi-cakrāt — out of the circle of waves; salilāt — from the water; virūḍham — situated on them; upāśritaḥ — having the shelter of; kañjam — lotus flower; u — in astonishment; loka-tattvam — the mystery of creation; na — not; ātmānam — himself; addhā — perfectly; avidat — could understand; ādi-devaḥ — the first demigod.
Translation
Lord Brahmā, situated in that lotus, could not perfectly understand the creation, the lotus or himself. At the end of the millennium the air of devastation began to move the water and the lotus in great circular waves.
Purport
Lord Brahmā was perplexed about his creation, the lotus and the world, even though he tried to understand them for one millennium, which is beyond calculation in the solar years of human beings. No one, therefore, can know the mystery of the creation and cosmic manifestation simply by mental speculation. The human being is so limited in his capacity that without the help of the Supreme he can hardly understand the mystery of the will of the Lord in terms of creation, continuance and destruction.