Total Theology in Four Verses

Chapter 9

Sukadeva Goswami explained how the conditioned living entity is influenced by illusion (maya) and cemented in the material conception of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ Through cultivation of spiritual practices, however, one can break free and reinstate themselves in reality. To explain, Sukadeva Goswami narrated the story of Lord Brahma’s enlightenment.

After being born upon a lotus stem, Brahma was puzzled as to what the purpose of his existence was, and he thus engaged in 1,000 celestial years of penance. The Lord, pleased by his steadfast determination and devotion, gave him a vision of the transcendental abode. Seizing this rare opportunity, Brahma humbly placed four principal enquiries before the Lord, who replied in four powerful statements, now known as the original Bhagavatam in four verses (catuh-sloki).

Brahma was fully satisfied by the succinct, but comprehensive, answers. [] The Lord then disappeared, after which Brahma began to engineer the entire universe.