Importance of Vandanam
There are interesting parallels between the initiating events for the missions of both Srila Prabhupada and Lord Brahma. This article explores some of those parallels.
Parallels in their missions
Lord Brahma is the first jiva or living entity in the universe, born from the lotus flower sprouting from the navel of Garbodakasayi Visnu. Along with Lord Visnu as the maintainer and Lord Siva as the destroyer, he is the principal creator or engineer of universal affairs, on behalf of the Lord. He takes charge of matters such as fashioning the planets, situating them in their orbits, as well as creating and assigning bodies for the different species of life. He is also a pure devotee of the Lord, and one of the twelve mahājanas or great authorities on the science of Krsna, who pass down this knowledge in paramparā from Him [Srila Prabhupada, Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Bombay, India, January 03, 1973]. We hear in Chapter eight of the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that, after manifesting on the whorl of the lotus flower originating from the Lord’s navel, Lord Brahma first inquired from the Lord within His heart about his origin and constitutional position. After seeking out and connecting with the Lord, he realizes he is part and parcel of the Lord, subordinate to Him, and becomes inclined to serve Him through creative activities. In Chapter nine of Canto three, through beautifully composed prayers, Lord Brahma requests from the Lord creative potencies to serve Him by constructing the features of this universe. Brahma was very much eager and ready to serve the Lord at any moment, that was his sincere desire
...I pray only to engage in His service in the creation of the material world.[1]
“...I pray only to engage in His service in the creation of the material world.” [SB 3.9.23]. However, even such an exalted soul as he was very anxious and overwhelmed at the magnitude of the task before him. Srila Prabhupada relates to us Brahma’s mental state and predicament “The devastating water was so fearful that even Brahmā was perturbed at its appearance…The task was meant only for Brahmā, and no one in the universe can even understand how difficult it was.” [SB 3.9.27-28, purport]. The image of Brahma sitting atop the original lotus contemplating his situation, amidst a vast churning ocean of devastation, certainly evokes awe and empathy for the challenge that lay ahead for him—and his feeling of being overwhelmed. As one of my spiritual teachers His Grace Syamananda dasa of Radhadesh in Belgium clarified, Lord Brahma’s grief is distinctly different to the grief experienced by Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Whereas Arjuna was filled with doubts as to what his true duty was, Lord Brahma was not in doubt as to what to do, but he was overwhelmed with its complexity and he was in anxiety about how to go about it.