Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 15

Sanskrit:

तच्चेज्जलस्थं तव सज्जगद्वपु:किं मे न द‍ृष्टं भगवंस्तदैव ।किं वा सुद‍ृष्टं हृदि मे तदैवकिं नो सपद्येव पुनर्व्यदर्शि ॥ १५ ॥

ITRANS:

tac cej jala-sthaṁ tava saj jagad-vapuḥkiṁ me na dṛṣṭaṁ bhagavaṁs tadaivakiṁ vā su-dṛṣṭaṁ hṛdi me tadaivakiṁ no sapady eva punar vyadarśi

Translation:

My dear Lord, if Your transcendental body, which shelters the entire universe, is actually lying upon the water, then why were You not seen by me when I searched for You? And why, though I could not envision You properly within my heart, did You then suddenly reveal Yourself?

Purport:

Lord Brahmā here refers to his experience at the dawn of cosmic creation. As described in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā took birth on the seat of a giant lotus whose stem emanated from the navel of Nārāyaṇa. Brahmā was bewildered as to his whereabouts, function and identity, and therefore he tried to trace out the source of the lotus stem, searching for clear information. Unable to find the Personality of Godhead, he returned to his seat and engaged in severe austerities, having been ordered to do so by the transcendental voice of the Lord, who could be heard but not seen. After long meditation, Brahmā saw the Lord but then again lost sight of Him. Thus Brahmā concludes that the transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead is not material but rather an eternal, spiritual form endowed with inconceivable mystic potencies. In other words, Lord Brahmā should not have challenged the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of all mystic power.