Spiritual
वामाङ्गादसृजद्विष्णुं दक्षिणाङ्गात्प्रजापतिम् ।
ज्योतिर्लिङ्गमयं शम्भुं कूर्चदेशादवासृजत् ॥ १५ ॥
vāmāṅgād asṛjad viṣṇuṁ dakṣiṇāṅgāt prajāpatim
jyotir-liṅga-mayaṁ śambhuṁ kūrca-deśād avāsṛjat
From His left side He created Viṣṇu, from His right side Prajāpati, and from the region between His eyebrows He manifested Śambhu, consisting of an effulgent liṅga.
vāma-aṅgāt—from His left side; asṛjat—He brought forth, manifested; viṣṇum—Viṣṇu; dakṣiṇa-aṅgāt—from His right side; prajāpatim—Prajāpati; jyotiḥ-liṅga-mayam—whose form consists of an effulgent liṅga; śambhum—Śambhu; kūrca-deśāt—from the region between the eyebrows; avāsṛjat—He manifested, brought forth.
Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā
Jīva Gosvāmī
“What did Mahā-Viṣṇu do next?” This is explained in the present verse beginning with vāmāṅgāt. Viṣṇu and the others mentioned here are the maintainers and other governing authorities of all the universes. They direct the corresponding rulers, such as Viṣṇu, who are situated within each individual universe.
The intended meaning is that, just as such an arrangement exists within each individual universe, a corresponding arrangement must also be accepted for the totality of all universes.
Among these, this Prajāpati is Hiraṇyagarbha, not the four-faced Brahmā who will be described later. He is the creator of the various deities situated within the respective coverings of the universes.
Viṣṇu and Śambhu should likewise be understood as the respective maintainers and destroyers.
The phrase kūrca-deśāt means: “from the region between the eyebrows.”
The abodes of these deities should be understood to exist within the water covering of the universe.
Brahma-saṁhitā-prakāśinī
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
Verse 15
Mahā-Viṣṇu manifested Viṣṇu from His left side, Prajāpati from His right side, and Śambhu as an effulgent liṅga from the space between His eyebrows.
The individual indwelling Supersoul (vyaṣṭi-antaryāmī), namely Kṣīrodakaśāyī Puruṣa, is Śrī Viṣṇu.
The divine expansion known as Hiraṇyagarbha is Prajāpati. He is distinct from the four-headed Brahmā. This Hiraṇyagarbha is the seed-form of all the Brahmās within the innumerable universes.
The luminous liṅga-form of Śambhu is an expanded manifestation of the original Śambhu, the primordial liṅga-tattva previously described.
Viṣṇu is a direct personal expansion (svāṁśa) of Mahā-Viṣṇu and is therefore sarva-maheśvara, the Supreme Lord of all. Prajāpati and Śambhu, however, are differentiated expansions (vibhinnāṁśas) of Mahā-Viṣṇu and are therefore particular administrative demigods.
Because the Lord’s spiritual potency resides upon His left side, Viṣṇu appears from the left side of Mahā-Viṣṇu through viśuddha-sattva, the pure spiritual state of the internal potency.
Viṣṇu, as the Supreme Lord, is the indwelling Paramātmā within every living entity. The Vedas describe Him as “a person of the measure of a thumb” (aṅguṣṭha-mātra puruṣa). He is the maintainer of the universe. Ritualists worship Him as Yajñeśvara Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of sacrifice. Yogīs meditate upon Him as Paramātmā while aspiring for samādhi.