The Story of Birth of Lord Brahma

Before the re-creation of the universe, it was submerged in water. At that time only Lord Narayan was there and he was in hypnogenic sleep (योगनिद्रा) on ‘Shesha Sajya’ (शेषशय्या) on the body of ‘Bhagwan Anant’ (शेषनाग). All the living beings were merged in Lord Narayan in subtle forms. The Lord remained in Yoga Nidra for one thousand quadruple eras (चतुर्युग) and after that the process of regeneration of the universe automatically due to the three qualities (सत्व,रज,तम). 

In the beginning, a bright lotus shining like the sun emerged out of the abdomen of the Lord. The glow of the lotus dazzled the entire water with the subtle power of Lord Narayan(Vishnu). When the lotus emerged from the water Lord Brahma appeared out of it. By the grace of Lord Narayan, he was already the knower of the four Vedas. For being born naturally he is known as 'Swayambhu' and for knowing the Vedas he is also known as 'Vedmurty'.

Sitting in the lotus Lord Brahma could not see anything except the lotus, water, and the sky. He wanted to know his identity and the origin of his birth. So he looked at the four sides for which his head converted into four heads. Being unable to discover anything he entered into the stem of the lotus but couldn't learn anything about himself and in that way. A long period passed and at last, being unsuccessful he returned to the lotus. He became restless and to control his state of mind, he closed his eyes and started meditating. 

He meditated for one hundred years. The darkness of his mind and eyes disappeared and he was able to see  Lord Narayan sleeping on the coil of 'Shesha Naga', the greatest serpent inside himself. Ten thousand hoods of Sheshnag were like the crown of the Lord. Brahma found the beauty of the Lord so enchanting that he couldn't take his eyes off the Lord. The Lord was adorned with a very attractive crown fitted with the rarest of gems. The Lord had four hands bearing 'Conch', 'Sudarshan Chakra', 'Mace', and 'Lotus'. Suddenly his vision of the Lord disappeared; he could only see himself, water, and the lotus. He felt helpless.

Lord Brahma started praying intensely to the Lord for guidance and fulfillment of the purpose of his birth. The prayer was so intense that he felt fatigued and could not continue anymore. His intelligence stopped working. Seeing his condition Lord Narayan spoke to him in a gentle voice and advised him to start the process of creation of the universe. He told Lord Brahma that the knowledge for the creation of the universe was already lying dormant inside him and he would have to observe penance again to awaken it. So Brahma again meditated for another hundred years and awakened all the power and knowledge within himself with the grace of Lord Narayan. Then he started the process of creating the universe again for which he had taken birth.

Source: Shrimad Bhagwad Purana

Also Read:

The Story of Birth of Lord Ganesh

The Story of Maharishi Vedvyasa