Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto 1: “Creation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Three
SB1.3.14
TEXT 14
ṛṣibhir yācito bheje
navamaṁ pārthivaṁ vapuḥ
dugdhemām oṣadhīr viprās
tenāyaṁ sa uśattamaḥ
SYNONYMS
ṛṣibhiḥ—by the sages; yācitaḥ—being prayed for; bheje—accepted; navamam—the ninth one; pārthivam—the ruler of the earth; vapuḥ—body; dugdha—milking; imām—all these; oṣadhīḥ—products of the earth; viprāḥ—O brāhmaṇas; tena—by; ayam—this; saḥ—he; uśattamaḥ—beautifully attractive.
TRANSLATION
O brāhmaṇas, in the ninth incarnation, the Lord, prayed for by sages, accepted the body of a king [Pṛthu] who cultivated the land to yield various produces, and for that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.
PURPORT
Before the advent of King Pṛthu, there was great havoc of maladministration due to the vicious life of the previous king, the father of Mahārāja Pṛthu. The intelligent class of men (namely the sages and the brāhmaṇas) not only prayed for the Lord to come down, but also dethroned the previous king. It is the duty of the king to be pious and thus look after the all-around welfare of the citizens. Whenever there is some negligence on the part of the king in discharging his duty, the intelligent class of men must dethrone him. The intelligent class of men, however, do not occupy the royal throne, because they have much more important duties for the welfare of the public. Instead of occupying the royal throne, they prayed for the incarnation of the Lord, and the Lord came as Mahārāja Pṛthu. Real intelligent men, or qualified brāhmaṇas, never aspire for political posts. Mahārāja Pṛthu excavated many produces from the earth, and thus not only did the citizens become happy to have such a good king, but the complete sight of the earth also became beautiful and attractive.
SB1.3.15 TEXT 15 rūpaṁ sa jagṛhe mātsyaṁ cākṣuṣodadhi-samplave nāvy āropya mahī-mayyām apād vaivasvataṁ manum SYNONYMS rūpam—form; saḥ—He; jagṛhe—accepted; mātsyam—of a fish; cākṣuṣa—Cākṣuṣa; udadhi—water; samplave—inundation; nāvi—on the boat; āropya—keeping on; mahī—the earth; mayyām—drowned in; apāt—protected; vaivasvatam—Vaivasvata; manum—Manu, the father of man.
TRANSLATION When there was a complete inundation after the period of the Cākṣuṣa Manu and the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him up on a boat. PURPORT According to Śrīpāda Śrīdhara Svāmī, the original commentator on the Bhāgavatam, there is not always a devastation after the change of every Manu. And yet this inundation after the period of Cākṣuṣa Manu took place in order to show some wonders to Satyavrata. But Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī has given definite proofs from authoritative scriptures (like Viṣṇu-dharmottara, Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Harivaṁśa, etc.) that there is always a devastation after the end of each and every Manu. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has also supported Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and he (Śrī Cakravartī) has also quoted from Bhāgavatāmṛta about this inundation after each Manu. Apart from this, the Lord, in order to show special favor to Satyavrata, a devotee of the Lord, in this particular period, incarnated Himself.
SB1.3.16 TEXT 16 surāsurāṇām udadhiṁ mathnatāṁ mandarācalam dadhre kamaṭha-rūpeṇa pṛṣṭha ekādaśe vibhuḥ SYNONYMS sura—the theists; asurāṇām—of the atheists; udadhim—in the ocean; mathnatām—churning; mandarācalam—the Mandarācala Hill; dadhre—sustained; kamaṭha—tortoise; rūpeṇa—in the form of; pṛṣṭhe—shell; ekādaśe—the eleventh in the line; vibhuḥ—the great.
TRANSLATION The eleventh incarnation of the Lord took the form of a tortoise whose shell served as a pivot for the Mandarācala Hill, which was being used as a churning rod by the theists and atheists of the universe. PURPORT Once both the atheists and the theists were engaged in producing nectar from the sea so that all of them could become deathless by drinking it. At that time the Mandarācala Hill was used as the churning rod, and the shell of Lord Tortoise, the incarnation of Godhead, became the resting place (pivot) of the hill in the seawater.
SB1.3.17 TEXT 17 dhānvantaraṁ dvādaśamaṁ trayodaśamam eva ca apāyayat surān anyān mohinyā mohayan striyā SYNONYMS dhānvantaram—the incarnation of Godhead named Dhanvantari; dvādaśamam—the twelfth in the line; trayodaśamam—the thirteenth in the line; eva—certainly; ca—and; apāyayat—gave to drink; surān—the demigods; anyān—others; mohinyā—by charming beauty; mohayan—alluring; striyā—in the form of a woman.
TRANSLATION In the twelfth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Dhanvantari, and in the thirteenth He allured the atheists by the charming beauty of a woman and gave nectar to the demigods to drink. SB1.3.18 TEXT 18 caturdaśaṁ nārasiṁhaṁ bibhrad daityendram ūrjitam dadāra karajair ūrāv erakāṁ kaṭa-kṛd yathā SYNONYMS caturdaśam—the fourteenth in the line; nāra-siṁham—the incarnation of the Lord as half-man and half-lion; bibhrat—advented; daitya-indram—the king of the atheists; ūrjitam—strongly built; dadāra—bifurcated; karajaiḥ—by the nails; ūrau—on the lap; erakām—canes; kaṭa-kṛt—carpenter; yathā—just like.
TRANSLATION In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nṛsiṁha and bifurcated the strong body of the atheist Hiraṇyakaśipu with His nails, just as a carpenter pierces cane. SB1.3.19 TEXT 19 pañcadaśaṁ vāmanakaṁ kṛtvāgād adhvaraṁ baleḥ pada-trayaṁ yācamānaḥ pratyāditsus tri-piṣṭapam SYNONYMS pañcadaśam—the fifteenth in the line; vāmanakam—the dwarf brāhmaṇa; kṛtvā—by assumption of; agāt—went; adhvaram—arena of sacrifice; baleḥ—of King Bali; pada-trayam—three steps only; yācamānaḥ—begging; pratyāditsuḥ—willing at heart to return; tri-piṣṭapam—the kingdom of the three planetary systems.
TRANSLATION In the fifteenth incarnation, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf-brāhmaṇa [Vāmana] and visited the arena of sacrifice arranged by Mahārāja Bali. Although at heart He was willing to regain the kingdom of the three planetary systems, He simply asked for a donation of three steps of land. PURPORT The Almighty God can bestow upon anyone the kingdom of the universe from a very small beginning, and similarly, He can take away the kingdom of the universe on the plea of begging a small piece of land.
SB1.3.20 TEXT 20 avatāre ṣoḍaśame paśyan brahma-druho nṛpān triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ kupito niḥ-kṣatrām akaron mahīm SYNONYMS avatāre—in the incarnation of the Lord; ṣoḍaśame—the sixteenth; paśyan—seeing; brahma-druhaḥ—disobedient to the orders of the brāhmaṇas; nṛpān—the kingly order; triḥ-sapta—thrice seven times; kṛtvaḥ—had done; kupitaḥ—being engaged; niḥ—negation; kṣatrām—the administrative class; akarot—did perform; mahīm—the earth.
TRANSLATION In the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord [as Bhṛgupati] annihilated the administrative class [kṣatriyas] twenty-one times, being angry with them because of their rebellion against the brāhmaṇas [the intelligent class]. PURPORT The kṣatriyas, or the administrative class of men, are expected to rule the planet by the direction of the intelligent class of men, who give direction to the rulers in terms of the standard śāstras, or the books of revealed knowledge. The rulers carry on the administration according to that direction. Whenever there is disobedience on the part of the kṣatriyas, or the administrative class, against the orders of the learned and intelligent brāhmaṇas, the administrators are removed by force from the posts, and arrangement is made for better administration.
SB1.3.21 TEXT 21 tataḥ saptadaśe jātaḥ satyavatyāṁ parāśarāt cakre veda-taroḥ śākhā dṛṣṭvā puṁso ’lpa-medhasaḥ SYNONYMS tataḥ—thereafter; saptadaśe—in the seventeenth incarnation; jātaḥ—advented; satyavatyām—in the womb of Satyavatī; parāśarāt—by Parāśara Muni; cakre—prepared; veda-taroḥ—of the desire tree of the Vedas; śākhāḥ—branches; dṛṣṭvā—be seeing; puṁsaḥ—the people in general; alpa-medhasaḥ—less intelligent.
TRANSLATION Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Śrī Vyāsadeva appeared in the womb of Satyavatī through Parāśara Muni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were less intelligent. PURPORT Originally the Veda is one. But Śrīla Vyāsadeva divided the original Veda into four, namely Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg, Atharva, and then again they were explained in different branches like the Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata. Vedic language and the subject matter are very difficult for ordinary men. They are understood by the highly intelligent and self-realized brāhmaṇas. But the present age of Kali is full of ignorant men. Even those who are born by a brāhmaṇa father are, in the present age, no better than the śūdras or the women. The twice-born men, namely the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, are expected to undergo a cultural purificatory process known as saṁskāras, but because of the bad influence of the present age the so-called members of the brāhmaṇa and other high-order families are no longer highly cultured. They are called the dvija-bandhus, or the friends and family members of the twice-born. But these dvija-bandhus are classified amongst the śūdras and the women. Śrīla Vyāsadeva divided the Vedas into various branches and subbranches for the sake of the less intelligent classes like the dvija-bandhus, śūdras and women.
SB1.3.22 TEXT 22 nara-devatvam āpannaḥ sura-kārya-cikīrṣayā samudra-nigrahādīni cakre vīryāṇy ataḥ param SYNONYMS nara—human being; devatvam—divinity; āpannaḥ—having assumed the form of; sura—the demigods; kārya—activities; cikīrṣayā—for the purpose of performing; samudra—the Indian Ocean; nigraha-ādīni—controlling, etc.; cakre—did perform; vīryāṇi—superhuman prowess; ataḥ param—thereafter.
TRANSLATION In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rāma. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist King Rāvaṇa, who was on the other side of the sea. PURPORT The Personality of Godhead Śrī Rāma assumed the form of a human being and appeared on the earth for the purpose of doing some pleasing work for the demigods or the administrative personalities to maintain the order of the universe. Sometimes great demons and atheists like Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu and many others become very famous due to advancing material civilization by the help of material science and other activities with a spirit of challenging the established order of the Lord. For example, the attempt to fly to other planets by material means is a challenge to the established order. The conditions of each and every planet are different, and different classes of human beings are accommodated there for particular purposes mentioned in the codes of the Lord. But, puffed up by tiny success in material advancement, sometimes the godless materialists challenge the existence of God. Rāvaṇa was one of them, and he wanted to deport ordinary men to the planet of Indra (heaven) by material means without consideration of the necessary qualifications. He wanted a staircase to be built up directly reaching the heavenly planet so that people might not be required to undergo the routine of pious work necessary to enter that planet. He also wanted to perform other acts against the established rule of the Lord. He even challenged the authority of Śrī Rāma, the Personality of Godhead, and kidnapped His wife, Sītā. Of course Lord Rāma came to chastise this atheist, answering the prayer and desire of the demigods. He therefore took up the challenge of Rāvaṇa, and the complete activity is the subject matter of the Rāmāyaṇa. Because Lord Rāmacandra was the Personality of Godhead, He exhibited superhuman activities which no human being, including the materially advanced Rāvaṇa, could perform. Lord Rāmacandra prepared a royal road on the Indian Ocean with stones that floated on the water. The modern scientists have done research in the area of weightlessness, but it is not possible to bring in weightlessness anywhere and everywhere. But because weightlessness is the creation of the Lord by which He can make the gigantic planets fly and float in the air, He made the stones even within this earth to be weightless and prepared a stone bridge on the sea without any supporting pillar. That is the display of the power of God.
SB1.3.23 TEXT 23 ekonaviṁśe viṁśatime vṛṣṇiṣu prāpya janmanī rāma-kṛṣṇāv iti bhuvo bhagavān aharad bharam SYNONYMS ekonaviṁśe—in the nineteenth; viṁśatime—in the twentieth also; vṛṣṇiṣu—in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty; prāpya—having obtained; janmanī—births; rāma—Balarāma; kṛṣṇau—Śrī Kṛṣṇa; iti—thus; bhuvaḥ—of the world; bhagavān—the Personality of Godhead; aharat—removed; bharam—burden.
TRANSLATION In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa in the family of Vṛṣṇi [the Yadu dynasty], and by so doing He removed the burden of the world. PURPORT The specific mention of the word bhagavān in this text indicates that Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are original forms of the Lord. This will be further explained later. Lord Kṛṣṇa is not an incarnation of the puruṣa, as we learned from the beginning of this chapter. He is directly the original Personality of Godhead, and Balarāma is the first plenary manifestation of the Lord. From Baladeva the first phalanx of plenary expansions, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna, expands. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Vāsudeva, and Baladeva is Saṅkarṣaṇa.
SB1.3.24 TEXT 24 tataḥ kalau sampravṛtte sammohāya sura-dviṣām buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati SYNONYMS tataḥ—thereafter; kalau—the age of Kali; sampravṛtte—having ensued; sammohāya—for the purpose of deluding; sura—the theists; dviṣām—those who are envious; buddhaḥ—Lord Buddha; nāmnā—of the name; añjana-sutaḥ—whose mother was Añjanā; kīkaṭeṣu—in the province of Gayā (Bihar); bhaviṣyati—will take place.
TRANSLATION Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Añjanā, in the province of Gayā, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist. PURPORT Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gayā (Bihar) as the son of Añjanā, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him.
Killing of animals before the advent of Lord Buddha was the most prominent feature of the society. People claimed that these were Vedic sacrifices. When the Vedas are not accepted through the authoritative disciplic succession, the casual readers of the Vedas are misled by the flowery language of that system of knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gītā a comment has been made on such foolish scholars (avipaścitaḥ). The foolish scholars of Vedic literature who do not care to receive the transcendental message through the transcendental realized sources of disciplic succession are sure to be bewildered. To them, the ritualistic ceremonies are considered to be all in all. They have no depth of knowledge. According to the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: the whole system of the Vedas is to lead one gradually to the path of the Supreme Lord. The whole theme of Vedic literature is to know the Supreme Lord, the individual soul, the cosmic situation and the relation between all these items. When the relation is known, the relative function begins, and as a result of such a function the ultimate goal of life or going back to Godhead takes place in the easiest manner. Unfortunately, unauthorized scholars of the Vedas become captivated by the purificatory ceremonies only, and natural progress is thereby checked.
To such bewildered persons of atheistic propensity, Lord Buddha is the emblem of theism. He therefore first of all wanted to check the habit of animal-killing. The animal-killers are dangerous elements on the path going back to Godhead. There are two types of animal-killers. The soul is also sometimes called the “animal” or the living being. Therefore, both the slaughterer of animals and those who have lost their identity of soul are animal-killers.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit said that only the animal-killer cannot relish the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if people are to be educated to the path of Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to stop the process of animal-killing as above mentioned. It is nonsensical to say that animal-killing has nothing to do with spiritual realization. By this dangerous theory many so-called sannyāsīs have sprung up by the grace of Kali-yuga who preach animal-killing under the garb of the Vedas. The subject matter has already been discussed in the conversation between Lord Caitanya and Maulana Chand Kazi Shaheb. The animal sacrifice as stated in the Vedas is different from the unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse. Because the asuras or the so-called scholars of Vedic literatures put forward the evidence of animal-killing in the Vedas, Lord Buddha superficially denied the authority of the Vedas. This rejection of the Vedas by Lord Buddha was adopted in order to save people from the vice of animal-killing as well as to save the poor animals from the slaughtering process of their big brothers who clamor for universal brotherhood, peace, justice and equity. There is no justice when there is animal-killing. Lord Buddha wanted to stop it completely, and therefore his cult of ahiṁsā was propagated not only in India but also outside the country.
Technically Lord Buddha’s philosophy is called atheistic because there is no acceptance of the Supreme Lord and because that system of philosophy denied the authority of the Vedas. But that is an act of camouflage by the Lord. Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Godhead. As such, he is the original propounder of Vedic knowledge. He therefore cannot reject Vedic philosophy. But he rejected it outwardly because the sura-dviṣa, or the demons who are always envious of the devotees of Godhead, try to support cow-killing or animal-killing from the pages of the Vedas, and this is now being done by the modernized sannyāsīs. Lord Buddha had to reject the authority of the Vedas altogether. This is simply technical, and had it not been so he would not have been so accepted as the incarnation of Godhead. Nor would he have been worshiped in the transcendental songs of the poet Jayadeva, who is a Vaiṣṇava ācārya. Lord Buddha preached the preliminary principles of the Vedas in a manner suitable for the time being (and so also did Śaṅkarācārya) to establish the authority of the Vedas. Therefore both Lord Buddha and Ācārya Śaṅkara paved the path of theism, and Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, specifically Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, led the people on the path towards a realization of going back to Godhead.
We are glad that people are taking interest in the nonviolent movement of Lord Buddha. But will they take the matter very seriously and close the animal slaughterhouses altogether? If not, there is no meaning to the ahiṁsā cult.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was composed just prior to the beginning of the age of Kali (about five thousand years ago), and Lord Buddha appeared about twenty-six hundred years ago. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Lord Buddha is foretold. Such is the authority of this clear scripture. There are many such prophecies, and they are being fulfilled one after another. They will indicate the positive standing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is without trace of mistake, illusion, cheating and imperfection, which are the four flaws of all conditioned souls. The liberated souls are above these flaws; therefore they can see and foretell things which are to take place on distant future dates.
SB1.3.25 TEXT 25 athāsau yuga-sandhyāyāṁ dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu janitā viṣṇu-yaśaso nāmnā kalkir jagat-patiḥ SYNONYMS atha—thereafter; asau—the same Lord; yuga-sandhyāyām—at the conjunction of the yugas; dasyu—plunderers; prāyeṣu—almost all; rājasu—the governing personalities; janitā—will take His birth; viṣṇu—named Viṣṇu; yaśasaḥ—surnamed Yaśā; nāmnā—in the name of; kalkiḥ—the incarnation of the Lord; jagat-patiḥ—the Lord of the creation.
TRANSLATION Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Viṣṇu Yaśā. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers. PURPORT Here is another foretelling of the advent of Lord Kalki, the incarnation of Godhead. He is to appear at the conjunction of the two yugas, namely at the end of Kali-yuga and the beginning of Satya-yuga. The cycle of the four yugas, namely Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, rotates like the calendar months. The present Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years, out of which we have passed only 5,000 years after the Battle of Kurukṣetra and the end of the regime of King Parīkṣit. So there are 427,000 years balance yet to be finished. Therefore at the end of this period, the incarnation of Kalki will take place, as foretold in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The name of His father, Viṣṇu Yaśā, a learned brāhmaṇa, and the village Śambhala are also mentioned. As above mentioned, all these foretellings will prove to be factual in chronological order. That is the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
SB1.3.26 TEXT 26 avatārā hy asaṅkhyeyā hareḥ sattva-nidher dvijāḥ yathāvidāsinaḥ kulyāḥ sarasaḥ syuḥ sahasraśaḥ SYNONYMS avatārāḥ—incarnations; hi—certainly; asaṅkhyeyāḥ—innumerable; hareḥ—of Hari, the Lord; sattva-nidheḥ—of the ocean of goodness; dvijāḥ—the brāhmaṇas; yathā—as it is; avidāsinaḥ—inexhaustible; kulyāḥ—rivulets; sarasaḥ—of vast lakes; syuḥ—are; sahasraśaḥ—thousands of.
TRANSLATION O brāhmaṇas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water. PURPORT The list of incarnations of the Personality of Godhead given herein is not complete. It is only a partial view of all the incarnations. There are many others, such as Śrī Hayagrīva, Hari, Haṁsa, Pṛśnigarbha, Vibhu, Satyasena, Vaikuṇṭha, Sārvabhauma, Viṣvaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudhāmā, Yogeśvara, Bṛhadbhānu and others of the bygone ages. Śrī Prahlāda Mahārāja said in his prayer, “My Lord, You manifest as many incarnations as there are species of life, namely the aquatics, the vegetables, the reptiles, the birds, the beasts, the men, the demigods, etc., just for the maintenance of the faithful and the annihilation of the unfaithful. You advent Yourself in this way in accordance with the necessity of the different yugas. In the Kali-yuga You have incarnated garbed as a devotee.” This incarnation of the Lord in the Kali-yuga is Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There are many other places, both in the Bhāgavatam and in other scriptures, in which the incarnation of the Lord as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is explicitly mentioned. In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said indirectly that although there are many incarnations of the Lord, such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, Matsya, Kūrma and many others, the Lord Himself sometimes incarnates in person. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are not, therefore, incarnations, but the original source of all other incarnations. This will be clearly explained in the next śloka. So the Lord is the inexhaustible source for innumerable incarnations which are not always mentioned. But such incarnations are distinguished by specific extraordinary feats which are impossible to be performed by any living being. That is the general test to identify an incarnation of the Lord, directly and indirectly empowered. Some incarnations mentioned above are almost plenary portions. For instance, the Kumāras are empowered with transcendental knowledge. Śrī Nārada is empowered with devotional service. Mahārāja Pṛthu is an empowered incarnation with executive function. The Matsya incarnation is directly a plenary portion. So the innumerable incarnations of the Lord are manifested all over the universes constantly, without cessation, as water flows constantly from waterfalls.
SB1.3.27 TEXT 27 ṛṣayo manavo devā manu-putrā mahaujasaḥ kalāḥ sarve harer eva saprajāpatayaḥ smṛtāḥ SYNONYMS ṛṣayaḥ—all the sages; manavaḥ—all the Manus; devāḥ—all the demigods; manu-putrāḥ—all the descendants of Manu; mahā-ojasaḥ—very powerful; kalāḥ—portion of the plenary portion; sarve—all collectively; hareḥ—of the Lord; eva—certainly; sa-prajāpatayaḥ—along with the Prajāpatis; smṛtāḥ—are known.
TRANSLATION All the ṛṣis, Manus, demigods and descendants of Manu, who are especially powerful, are plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord. This also includes the Prajāpatis. PURPORT Those who are comparatively less powerful are called vibhūti, and those who are comparatively more powerful are called āveśa incarnations.
SB1.3.28 TEXT 28 ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge SYNONYMS ete—all these; ca—and; aṁśa—plenary portions; kalāḥ—portions of the plenary portions; puṁsaḥ—of the Supreme; kṛṣṇaḥ—Lord Kṛṣṇa; tu—but; bhagavān—the Personality of Godhead; svayam—in person; indra-ari—the enemies of Indra; vyākulam—disturbed; lokam—all the planets; mṛḍayanti—gives protection; yuge yuge—in different ages.
TRANSLATION All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists. PURPORT In this particular stanza Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is distinguished from other incarnations. He is counted amongst the avatāras (incarnations) because out of His causeless mercy the Lord descends from His transcendental abode. Avatāra means “one who descends.” All the incarnations of the Lord, including the Lord Himself, descend on the different planets of the material world as also in different species of life to fulfill particular missions. Sometimes He comes Himself, and sometimes His different plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions, or His differentiated portions directly or indirectly empowered by Him, descend on this material world to execute certain specific functions. Originally the Lord is full of all opulences, all prowess, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. When they are partly manifested through the plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions, it should be noted that certain manifestations of His different powers are required for those particular functions. When in the room small electric bulbs are displayed, it does not mean that the electric powerhouse is limited by the small bulbs. The same powerhouse can supply power to operate large-scale industrial dynamos with greater volts. Similarly, the incarnations of the Lord display limited powers because so much power is needed at that particular time.
For example, Lord Paraśurāma and Lord Nṛsiṁha displayed unusual opulence by killing the disobedient kṣatriyas twenty-one times and killing the greatly powerful atheist Hiraṇyakaśipu. Hiraṇyakaśipu was so powerful that even the demigods in other planets would tremble simply by the unfavorable raising of his eyebrow. The demigods in the higher level of material existence many, many times excel the most well-to-do human beings, in duration of life, beauty, wealth, paraphernalia, and in all other respects. Still they were afraid of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Thus we can simply imagine how powerful Hiraṇyakaśipu was in this material world. But even Hiraṇyakaśipu was cut into small pieces by the nails of Lord Nṛsiṁha. This means that anyone materially powerful cannot stand the strength of the Lord’s nails. Similarly, Jāmadagnya displayed the Lord’s power to kill all the disobedient kings powerfully situated in their respective states. The Lord’s empowered incarnation Nārada and plenary incarnation Varāha, as well as indirectly empowered Lord Buddha, created faith in the mass of people. The incarnations of Rāma and Dhanvantari displayed His fame, and Balarāma, Mohinī and Vāmana exhibited His beauty. Dattātreya, Matsya, Kumāra and Kapila exhibited His transcendental knowledge. Nara and Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣis exhibited His renunciation. So all the different incarnations of the Lord indirectly or directly manifested different features, but Lord Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord, exhibited the complete features of Godhead, and thus it is confirmed that He is the source of all other incarnations. And the most extraordinary feature exhibited by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was His internal energetic manifestation of His pastimes with the cowherd girls. His pastimes with the gopīs are all displays of transcendental existence, bliss and knowledge, although these are manifested apparently as sex love. The specific attraction of His pastimes with the gopīs should never be misunderstood. The Bhāgavatam relates these transcendental pastimes in the Tenth Canto. And in order to reach the position to understand the transcendental nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with the gopīs, the Bhāgavatam promotes the student gradually in nine other cantos.
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s statement, in accordance with authoritative sources, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the source of all other incarnations. It is not that Lord Kṛṣṇa has any source of incarnation. All the symptoms of the Supreme Truth in full are present in the person of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord emphatically declares that there is no truth greater than or equal to Himself. In this stanza the word svayam is particularly mentioned to confirm that Lord Kṛṣṇa has no other source than Himself. Although in other places the incarnations are described as bhagavān because of their specific functions, nowhere are they declared to be the Supreme Personality. In this stanza the word svayam signifies the supremacy as the summum bonum.
The summum bonum Kṛṣṇa is one without a second. He Himself has expanded Himself in various parts, portions and particles as svayaṁ-rūpa, svayam-prakāśa, tad-ekātmā, prābhava, vaibhava, vilāsa, avatāra, āveśa, and jīvas, all provided with innumerable energies just suitable to the respective persons and personalities. Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Kṛṣṇa to have sixty-four principal attributes. All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the possessor of the attributes cent percent. And His personal expansions such as svayam-prakāśa, tad-ekātmā up to the categories of the avatāras who are all viṣṇu-tattva, possess up to ninety-three percent of these transcendental attributes. Lord Śiva, who is neither avatāra nor āveśa nor in between them, possesses almost eighty-four percent of the attributes. But the jīvas, or the individual living beings in different statuses of life, possess up to the limit of seventy-eight percent of the attributes. In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being. The most perfect of living beings is Brahmā, the supreme administrator of one universe. He possesses seventy-eight percent of the attributes in full. All other demigods have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings possess the attributes in very minute quantity. The standard of perfection for a human being is to develop the attributes up to seventy-eight percent in full. The living being can never possess attributes like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa. A living being can become godly by developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a God like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. He can become a Brahmā in due course. The godly living beings who are all residents of the planets in the spiritual sky are eternal associates of God in different spiritual planets called Hari-dhāma and Maheśa-dhāma. The abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa above all spiritual planets is called Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana, and the perfected living being, by developing seventy-eight percent of the above attributes in fullness, can enter the planet of Kṛṣṇaloka after leaving the present material body.
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