Hare Krsna,
This is such a sweet pastime for meditation on Krsna’s sweetness and opulence. One may be tempted to think that Krsna is upset with Lord Brahma for having stolen His cowherd friends and calves. But here we see a sweet exchange of love between the two. It takes lots of mercy, good fortune, and bhakti to be able to see Ktsna’s original two-handed form as a young boy – His svayam-rupa sac-cid-ananda form – the source of all forms of eternity, knowledge and bliss. That Lord Brahma could see such a form reveals Krsna being pleased with Brahma’s devotion.
Brahma said, “My dear Vasudeva! You are the source of countless forms, and are the only worshipable Lord. You are glorified by everyone in the universe from me down to the grass. In order to attain You, I offer these praises unto You. Or, simply to please You, I glorify You in verse. Your transcendental body, dark blue like a fresh rain cloud, is wrapped in a garment more brilliant than lightning.” (SVT commentary)
This pastime between Lord Krsna and Lord Brahma is so special that even Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes this prayer of Lord Brahma in His conversation with Srila Sanatana Goswami (CC Madhya Chapter 21). The chapter is titled – The Opulence and Sweetness of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As described by Mahaprabhu in that chapter, Kṛṣṇa had unlimited calves and cowherd boys with Him. No one could count their actual number. Each of the cowherd boys was tending calves to the extent of a koṭi, arbuda, śaṅkha and padma. That is the way of counting. All the cowherd boys had unlimited calves. Similarly, their canes, flutes, lotus flowers, horns, garments and ornaments were all unlimited. They cannot be limited by writing about them. The cowherd boys then became four-handed Nārāyaṇas, predominating Deities of Vaikuṇṭha planets. All the separate Brahmās from different universes began to offer their prayers unto the Lords. All these transcendental bodies emanated from the body of Kṛṣṇa, and within a second They all entered again into His body. When the Lord Brahmā from this universe saw this pastime, he was astonished and struck with wonder. After offering his prayers, he gave the following conclusion.”
Lord Brahma prayed: “If someone says that he knows everything about Kṛṣṇa’s opulence, let him think that way. But as far as I am concerned, with my body and mind I consider it in this way. My Lord, Your opulence is like an unlimited ocean of nectar, and it is verbally and mentally impossible for me to realize even a drop of that ocean. There are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much. As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.” (CC Madhya 21.25-27)
These prayers of Lord Brahma’s will appear later in this chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam.
The key lesson I take away from this study is that it is almost impossible to understand Krsna’s personal form – as experienced by Lord Brahma himself. Lord Brahma says that his mind is completely withdrawn from material affairs, but still, he cannot understand the Lord’s personal form. What to speak of understanding the happiness He experiences within Himself?
[Side note: I can see this realization of Lord Brahma about Krsna’s experiencing His own happiness leads to the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the next yuga.]
Krsna’s name, form, pastimes, abode, paraphernalia and even His devotees can be understood only by pure devotional service.
“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” (BG 18.55)
I can only endeavor to engage in pure devotional service unto sweet Lord Ktsna. And it is upto Him to mercifully reveal His name, form, pastimes, etc. as he revealed to Lord Brahma. We just have to offer prayers of surrender to the Lord as Lord Brahma did.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 