Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 2 - Chapter 1 - Verse 5


Sanskrit:

आत्मन् भावयसे तानी न पराभावयन् स्वयम् ।आत्मशक्तिमवष्टभ्य ऊर्णनाभिरिवाक्लम: ॥ ५ ॥

ITRANS:

ātman bhāvayase tānina parābhāvayan svayamātma-śaktim avaṣṭabhyaūrṇanābhir ivāklamaḥ

Translation:

As the spider very easily creates the network of its cobweb and manifests its power of creation without being defeated by others, so also you yourself, by employment of your self-sufficient energy, create without any other’s help.

Purport:

The best example of self-sufficiency is the sun. The sun does not require to be illuminated by any other body. Rather, it is the sun which helps all other illuminating agents, for in the presence of the sun no other illuminating agent becomes prominent. Nārada compared the position of Brahmā to the self-sufficiency of the spider, who creates its own field of activities without any other’s help by employment of its own energetic creation of saliva.