This session covers:
- The process of creation of the universe and the constitutional position of the soul.
- The incarnations of the Lord.
- The most important verse of the Bhagavatam and how it helps us to understand the whole text.
- Refuting the idea that Krsna is an avatar of Vishnu.
In most of this course, we will be studying two or three chapters per lesson, as far as possible trying to cover an entire topic on each section. However, we are going slowly for now because these are foundational chapters that have a lot of important information, and more or less summarize the contents of the whole Srimad Bhagavatam.
Just like the second chapter gives a concise description of the process of devotional service, the third chapter gives us a description of the incarnations of Krsna which will be explained in more detail during the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. The third chapter also includes a special verse, the paribhasa-sutra of Srimad Bhagavatam.
The paribhasa-sutra is the verse that gives the essence of the whole book. Just like a king reigns over all subjects, the paribhasa-sutra is the verse that reigns over all other verses. All the verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam must be understood under the optics of this paribhasa-sutra if one hopes to understand the correct conclusion of the text. Since this is such an important verse, we can’t miss it!
The Puruṣa avataras
The first five verses of the third chapter explain the incarnations of Krsna Who create the material world. These five verses are a continuation of the explanation of the Purusha avataras given in the second chapter as an answer to the 4th question of the sages.
Everything starts with Lord Maha-Vishu, who lies down on the causal ocean (or the Karana Ocean) and creates all the universes from his break and the pores of His body.
The Karana Ocean is the combination of all the material elements, the three modes of material nature, the souls who want to take part in the material creation, and the time energy (Kala) that puts everything in movement.
The Karana Ocean is also known as pradhāna or mahat-tattva. What is the difference between these two terms? When the energy is inactive, it is called pradhāna, which is just like a cloud that covers a small part of the spiritual sky, and when it becomes active by the influence of time and the three modes it is called mahat-tattva. The two terms thus speak about two stages of the same thing.
Due to the influence of time, everything in the material world is created and destroyed, including the universe itself. Because of the influence of time, everything here is temporary, and the material universes go through cycles of creation and destruction. When the universes are destroyed, all the souls merge back into the mahat-tattva, and the mahat-tattva itself merges back into the body of Lord Maha-Vishnu.
The manifestation of the material universes lasts for 311.04 trillion years. That’s the lifespan of Lord Brahma calculated according to our time. This equals one breath of Maha-Vishnu. When He expires, all universes come out and everything becomes active, and when He inspires all the universes are destroyed and everything merges back into His body.
This time lasts for the same period of time as the manifestation of the universes, also 311,04 trillion years. During this time all the souls stay dormant inside the body of Maha-Vishnu. After this period He again expires and all the universes become active again. The souls have thus another opportunity to perform material activities, satisfying their material desires, performing devotional service, and eventually going back to Godhead, back to the spiritual world.
The process of creation described in the Srimad Bhagavatam is very intricate, and we will see it described in different passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Each description of the creation includes a different set of details, so by studying these different descriptions we may by the end come to understand well how it works.
For now, let’s just focus on some basic points.
- An illusory world
According to the Vedas, the material world is not false, but it is illusory. This means that the way we see it is different from what it is in reality. This illusion is called Maya. We think we will live forever, but in reality, we all die, we think we are these bodies, that we belong to a certain family or country, although in reality, we are not, and so on. Even the material objects we touch are not really solid matter, but just energy that looks like something solid.
Our eyes, ears, and so on capture some information about the world around us, this information is then processed by the mind and the result of it is what we call “reality”. I see things in a certain way, you see differently, but how things are in truth nor I nor you know. The real truth can be understood only through the pages of the Srimad Bhagavatam.
The material energy is originally one of the spiritual potencies of Lord Maha-Vishnu, His external potency. This external potency is like a shadow, which stays behind the Lord.
The Lord uses this spirtual potency to create the unmanifested material elements (pradhāna). As mentioned, this pradhana is just like a cloud that covers a small part of the spiritual sky. The Lord then looks in the direction of this cloud, and His look carries all the souls, as well as the time energy. This puts this energy into movement, activating the three material modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance), putting the universes in movement, and starting the process of creation.
Time is eternal as an energy, but its effect upon material energy has a beginning, the start of creation. In this way, time is eternal (as a cause), but at the same time, it has a beginning (as an effect).
The Lord then enters into each universe as Garbodakasayi Vishnu. At first, the universe is completely empty, without any place to rest, so He fills half of it with water. Lord Seṣa then manifests, himself, acting as a bed, where the Lord comfortably rests. From there He manifests Lord Brahma from a lotus flower that sprouts from His navel, and Lord Brahma creates the universe itself.
Simultaneously, the Lord expands himself again as Kisirodakasayi Vishnu, Paramamatma, who enters into the hearts of all and into everything, up to the individual atoms. There is no part of the universe where Paramatma is not present, therefore He knows everything. Lord Kisirodakasayi Vishnu is also known as Lord Hari, and He is the source of all different incarnations that appear in this universe. As He himself comes from Lord Garbodakasayi Vishnu, some passages say that Garbodakasayi Vishnu is the source of all incarnations. In the same way, since Garbodakasayi Vishnu comes ultimately from Krsna, we can also say that all incarnations come from Krsna. There is no contradiction.
Krsna appears in unlimited incarnations in the different universes. He appears as the different forms of Vishnu to create and maintain the universes, He comes to perform different pastimes (lila-avataras), He comes in every age to teach Dharma (yuga-avataras), He appears as an incarnation during the reign of each Manu (manvantara-avataras), He empowers different living beings to perform amazing activities (saktyavesa-avataras) and so on. Some of these incarnations will be briefly described in this third chapter.
- From where did we come?
Krsna has three main energies: The spiritual energy (or internal potency), the material energy (or external potency), and the marginal energy (the individual souls, who can choose between staying under the internal energy, or the external energy).
The internal potency composes all the spiritual planets and everything else that exists there. There everything is eternal, composed of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. It equals 75% or more of the creation, and 90% or more of all souls live there. All souls come originally from this spiritual potency and thus are eternally connected with Krsna with a bound of love. This love for Krsna, or Prema, is already inside the soul. More specifically, it is part of the soul, and can’t be separated or lost. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains:
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (CC Madhya 22.108)
However, this natural love for Krsna that is inside the soul becomes covered when the soul comes in contact with the material energy. When we come to this material world, our real spiritual self is covered with many material layers, such as the false ego, intelligence, mind, and senses that form our subtle body. This subtle body is then covered by the gross body. With so many covers, our eternal spiritual form becomes covered and our natural love for Krsna is temporarily suppressed. Because of all these coverings, we forget what we are, and start thinking that we are men, women, animals, plants, or demigods in this material world.
By following the process of devotional service, our natural love for Krsna is gradually awakened, and with this, all the material coverings are gradually destroyed, and our eternal spiritual body becomes visible, just like the sun when clouds are cleared.
How and why the soul falls into the material world is a very complicated question. However, there are three important points to understand, according to Prabhupada’s teachings:
1- The soul is an eternal servant of Krsna. That’s what the soul is, an eternal nature that can’t be separated, just like sweetness can’t be separated from sugar.
2- Love for Krsna is part of the soul and is present even now. It doesn’t have to be gained from another source but simply uncovered. For this, we need to remove the material contaminations from our hearts by following the process of bhakti and associating with sincere devotees.
3- The second is that we come to this material world by free will, or in other words, due to our own choice. Krsna didn’t want us to come here, and now He wants us back. That’s the reason He follows us life after life as Paramatma. No one else does that for us. Krsna is thus our true friend. When we understand that and start to again look for Him, we start our way back home.
These points are repeated by Prabhupada in numerous passages. They are very clear in his teachings. Take this passage from the 4th canto for example (4.28.52-55), where Paramatma speaks to King Puranjana in his rebirth as a woman:
“Who are you? Whose wife or daughter are you? Who is the man lying here? It appears you are lamenting for this dead body. Don’t you recognize Me? I am your eternal friend. You may remember that many times in the past you have consulted Me.
My dear friend, even though you cannot immediately recognize Me, can’t you remember that in the past you had a very intimate friend? Unfortunately, you gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this material world.
My dear gentle friend, both you and I are exactly like two swans. We live together in the same heart, which is just like the Mānasa Lake. Although we have been living together for many thousands of years, we are still far away from our original home.
My dear friend, you are now My very same friend. Since you left Me, you have become more and more materialistic, and not seeing Me, you have been traveling in different forms throughout this material world, which was created by some woman.” (the material energy)
There are Vaishnava schools that have other opinions, and disagreement is of course the nature of this material world, but when we come to the teachings of Srila Prabhupada these two points are very clear. Without accepting these points, one will eventually come to the conclusion that Prabhupada was teaching only the ABCD or that he was telling lies with the goal of making his books easier for the Western audience. Both ideas are of course clearly offensive and will block one from understanding the real meaning of his books.
The 22 incarnations of the Lord
With this, we come to the main topic of this chapter, which is the incarnations of Krsna. Krsna’s incarnations are actually unlimited, because Krsna appears in unlimited forms in unlimited universes, sometimes personally, sometimes as a plenary expansion, sometimes as a part of a plenary expansion, and other times in the form of His energy, by empowering different living entities to perform amazing feats.
However, to make the list short, Srila Suta Goswami offers a list of 22 prominent incarnations. There are other lists, like the dasa-avatara, which includes just 10 incarnations, for example. There is no contradiction. Because Krsna’s incarnations are unlimited, one can compose unlimited lists of various lengths according to how long or short he wants the description to become.
All the 22 incarnations described here in the 3rd chapter appeared in our universe, during the current day of Brahma. There are many other incarnations, such as the yuga-avataras (which appear at each age) and the manvantara-avataras (which appear in each reign of Manu). These and other incarnations are described in other passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Which are the incarnations described here?
1- The Kumaras
The four Kumaras are the four celibate sons of Brahma who appeared at the beginning of creation. They underwent great austerities and thus give example for others who are seriously interested in self-realization. They participate in many of the pastimes described in the Srimad Bhagavatam, such as instructing King Prthu and cursing Jaya and Vijaya to come as demons. They are counted among the saktyavesa-avataras. In other words, they are not direct incarnations of the Lord, but jivas who are empowered by Him. They live in Tapoloka, the highest planetary system in the universe after Brahmaloka, where they practice meditation and give association to great sages. Rarely do they visit the lower planetary systems, and when they do they are visible only to the people they choose.
2- Lord Varaha
Lord Varaha is the Transcendental Boar. There are two incarnations of Lord Varaha described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The first one appeared in a white complexion at the beginning of the current day of Brahma and lifted the whole Bhu-Mandala, which at the time was submerged into the Garbodaka ocean. The second appearance of Lord Varaha happened more recently, during the reign of Cākṣuṣa Manu. In this second appearance, He came in a red complexion, lifted our planet, and fought with Hiranyaksa.
Bhu-Mandala is the whole intermediate planetary system, which includes our planet and many other structures. Bhu Mandala is a flat structure (much like a solar system) that goes from one extreme to the other of the universe. Our planet is rather insignificant compared to it. Most of the passages in the Srimad Bhagavatam mention Bhu-Mandala and not directly our planet, which is a frequent source of confusion.
Both appearances of Lord Varaha are described in the third canto, but because they are amalgamated into a single description, it can be a little hard to understand. We will see it in more detail later.
3- Narada Muni
Narada Muni is counted as one of the incarnations because he (just like the four Kumaras) is a saktyavesa-avatara, teaching about devotional service all over the universe. The story of his previous birth and how he became Narada Muni is described in chapters 5 and 6 of the first canto. Narada Muni is a liberated soul, who has a spirtual body and thus he is free to travel through both the material and spiritual worlds.
4- Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi
In the fourth incarnation, the Lord appeared together with Arjuna as Nara and Nārāyaṇa rishis. In this incarnation, He practices austerities and thus gives examples for all who are very serious in spiritual practice. He instructed Narada Muni and others on how to eradicate all forms of material work through the practice of devotional service. Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi is still present on our planet, living in Badarikasrama, where Vyasadeva and other great personalities also live. This is a secluded place in the Himalayas that only highly elevated souls have access to.
Once, Lord Indra became envious of their austerities, thinking that they could become too powerful and take away his position. He thus sent Cupid (the demigod) and many apsaras to tempt them and make them break their austerities. Indra judged the Lord by himself, thinking that He was attracted to material opulence, just like he was. Instead of becoming attracted, the Lord showed that He is the source of all beautiful women. He manifested many extraordinarily beautiful celestial women and asked the demigods to select one of them to become the ornament of the celestial planets. This pastime marked the appearance of Urvasi, the famous apsara who appears in many pastimes narrated in the Puranas and Mahabharata.
5- Lord Kapila
As Lord Kapila, the Lord appeared at the beginning of the current day of Brahma as the son of Devahuti to teach the original system of Sāṅkhya, which can free us from material contamination by analytically studying the workings of the material world. The instructions of Lord Kapila are described in the third canto. An impostor Kapila appeared, teaching the atheistic system of Sāṅkhya, which became popular in India. This was however just a common philosopher, without any relationship with the incarnation of the Lord.
6- Dattātreya
In the sixth incarnation, the Lord came as the son of Anasūyā, who prayed to Lord Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva for the three of them to combine in an incarnation. Dattātreya instructed many sages on the science of the soul. Some believe that the passage of the 24 gurus explained in the 11th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam was spoken by him.
7- Yajña
During each day of Brahma, there are 14 manvantara-avatāras, incarnations that appear during the reign of each manu. The most prominent of them was Yajña, who appeared at a time when there was no living entity suitable to become Indra. Appearing as Yajña, the Lord assumed the post of Indra and ruled the universe with the assistance of His sons and the different demigods.
8- Ṛṣabhadeva
As Ṛṣabhadeva, the Lord taught the path of perfection by the execution of austerities, tapasya, giving the example for all renunciants, who reject the path of sense enjoyment to attain real happiness in the spiritual platform. In the last stage, He became completely aloof from the bodily needs. His activities as well as his teachings to his sons are recorded in the 5th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Ṛṣabhadeva is also the father of the famous Bharata Maharaja, whose activities are also described in the 5th canto.
9- King Pṛthu
At the beginning of the day of Brahma, our planet passed through a great crisis after the reign of Vena, a demoniac king who stopped all forms of Vedic sacrifices and abolished the worship of Vishnu, proclaiming himself God. He ended up dying after being cursed by the Brahmanas, but the effects of his policies continued. The population became increasingly sinful and there was a great famine because the earth stopped producing grains.
To solve the situation, the Lord came as King Pṛthu, playing the role of a perfect king. He restored religious principles and extracted all kinds of valuable things from Earth, making not only the citizens but all inhabitants of the universe prosperous.
10- Matsya
Just lord Varaha, Matsya Avatara also appeared two times. Once, at the end of the previous day of Brahma, a demon named Hayagrīva took the Vedic knowledge away from Lord Brahmā at the time of annihilation. Therefore the Lord took the form of a fish at the beginning of the current day and saved the Vedas.
The second appearance happened more recently, during the reign of Cākṣuṣa Manu (the previous manu). At that time, Lord Brahma somehow fell asleep, which triggered a partial devastation of the universe, with the waters of devastation rising and submerging Bhu-Mandala. The Lord then came for the second time to save King Satyavrata, along with the ṛṣis, plants, and animals in a huge boat that was tied to His horn. The story of the Noah’s Ark seems to be just a reproduction of this pastime.
11- Kurma
In the 8th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, it’s narrated the pastime of the churning of the milk ocean, where the demigods and demons declared a truce to produce nectar from the ocean. After filling the ocean with different types of herbs and other ingredients, they had to churn it, just like whe have to churn yogurt to make butter. For that, they used the Mandara Mountain, which was held in place by Lord Kurma, a powerful incarnation of the Lord who was age to sustain the weight on his back, assisting the demigods in their work.
12- Dhanvantari
At the end of the process of churning the ocean, the Lord appeared as another incarnation, Lord Dhanvantari, who was extremely beautiful and brought a jug of nectar. Lord Dhanvantari also inaugurated the Vedic medical science, helping people to live healthy lives and use their energy to practice self-realization.
13- Mohini Murti
When Lord Dhanvantari appeared with the nectar, the demons immediately snatched the jug from His hands. At this time, the demigods were weak and were not able to fight the asuras. Instead, they took shelter in the Lord. The asuras started fighting between themselves over who would drink the nectar first, and the Lord took the opportunity to appear as Mohini Murti, the most beautiful woman, to bewilder the demons and give the nectar to the demigods.
Later, the Lord appeared again to Lord Shiva, who prayed to be able to see his feminine form. Lord Shiva taught no woman would be able to bewilder him, but the Lord used his internal potency to attract Lord Shiva and make him run after him in front of all the great sages, warning them to not feel very safe. If even Lord Shiva could be bewildered by a woman, what to say about them? These pastimes are narrated in the 8th canto.
14- Nṛsiṁhadeva
Haranyakashipu got several blessings from Lord Brahmana, to not be killed during the day or during the night, not on land or in the sky, not be killed by a man, animal, or any type of weapon, inside or outside a residence, and so on. With these blessings, he was able to terrorize the universe, but he met his end when he tried to kill Prahlada Maharaja. The Lord appeared in a form that nullified all the blessings he had got. This is narrated in the 7th canto.
15- Vāmanadeva
When Bali Maharaja was able to defeat the demigods and take possession of the celestial planets, the Lord appeared as Vāmanadeva to settle the dispute. As a dwarf, the Lord begged for three steps of land, but by expanding His form, he covered everything with just two steps.
Although born in the dynasty of the demons, Bali Maharaja was a pure devotee, the grandson of Prahlada Maharaja, and therefore he didn’t hesitate in giving the Lord everything and asked the Lord to put His third step on his head. In this way, by the blessing of the Lord, he achieved opulence greater than the demigods.
16- Parasurama
Parasurama was another saktyavesa-avatara, who annihilated the Ksatriya class 21 times when they rebelled against the Brahmanas. He would kill all the adult Ksatriyas in battle, leaving just the women and children, who would later grow up and try to avenge their fathers, which continued for many generations.
After fulfilling his mission, Parasurama abandoned the use of weapons and became fixed in meditating on the Lord. He is still alive today in Badarikāśrama. In the next Manvantara, he will become one of the seven great sages.
Because of Parasurama, many Ksatriyas left India and populated other parts of India. Most of the people in Europe and Russia are descendants of these Ksatriyas.
17- Vyāsadeva
When the Vedas were almost lost at the end of Dwapara-yuga, Vyasadeva appeared to compile the whole Vedic knowledge and divide it into different branches and subbranches that could be studied by the people of Kali-yuga. Vyasadeva is still living in Badarikāśrama, together with Nara-Nārāyaṇa and many other great personalities.
18- Rāma
The pastimes of Lord Rama are discussed in summary form in the ninth canto since they are already described in detail in the Ramayana. As Lord Rama, Krsna gave the example of the perfect king, upholding the highest religious principles. We can’t imitate his pastimes of building a bridge over the ocean or killing Ravana, but we can follow his example of being truthful to our word, and being faithful to just one wive, for example.
19 and 20- Balarama and Krsna
Although Suta Goswami includes Krsna and Balarama in the list of incarnations, there is an essential difference between them and the other incarnations that will be explained in the next verses.
21- Buddha
There are two incarnations of Lord Buddha described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The first, described here, is the Lord Buddha of our time, who appeared to teach non-violence about 2,500 years ago when people in India were using the sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas as an excuse to kill animals.
The second (described in SB 2.7.37) appeared in a different Kali-Yuga when human beings were able to master the Vedic sciences and use this knowledge to construct spaceships and attack other planets. Just as in our times, Lord Buddha appeared to teach them non-violence and stop the massacre.
22- Kalki
Kalki is another empowered incarnation who will come at the end of Kali-yuga to annihilate the corrupt leaders and most of the degraded population who will be still alive at that time. By his presence, he will change the atmosphere of the world, creating the conditions for great sages who are currently living in Badarikāśrama to come down and repopulate the planet, starting a new Satya-yuga.
- The Paribhasa-sutra
Krsna appears in the material world in numerous incarnations. These incarnations are compared to many rivers flowing from an unlimited source of water. Ultimately, all great powerful beings, including the ṛṣis, Manus, demigods, descendants of Manu, and so on are plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions or are empowered by the Lord. All these different incarnations manifest from Lord Kisirodakasayi Vishnu.
However, Krsna is different. Although Suta Goswami initially includes them in the list of 22 incarnations, in verse 28 he reveals that Krsna is in a different category:
ŚB 1.3.28
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
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.
“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.”
This is a very important verse. Srila Jiva Goswami identified it as the paribhasa-sutra of Srimad Bhagavatam.
According to him, each book in Vedic literature has one or a few verses that bring the conclusion of the book. That’s the paribhasa-sutra. All the other verses must be studied in the context of the paribhasa-sutra if one wants to properly understand the text.
As he wrote in the Krishna Sandarbha:
“A paribhasa-sutra explains the proper method for understanding a book. It is the key sloka to understand the actual meaning of a book or chapter and a series of apparently unrelated facts and arguments that may follow. There may be millions of verses in a book, but they are all subordinate to this one superior statement, the paribhasa sutra, the final word, which describes the conclusion and message of the whole book”.
The word “ete” means all these incarnations mentioned in the list, and the word “ca” (and) adds all the many other incarnations that were not mentioned. From these incarnations, some are “aṁśa” or plenary portions (fully powerful incarnations of the Lord) and some are “kalāḥ” (portions of the plenary portions (which are comparatively less powerful). Apart from these two types, there are other types of incarnations, like the saktyavesa-avataras, yuga-avataras, and so on. All these incarnations come from “puṁsaḥ”, referring to Ksirodakasayi Vishnu.
In this way, the first line of the verse, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ, indicates that all the different incarnations of the list, as well as other incarnations that are not mentioned, come from Lord Ksirodakasayi Vishnu as plenary portions or parts of plenary portions.
The second line of the verse, however, marks a turn. The word “tu” in Sanskrit means “but” or “on the other hand”, but it sounds stronger than the English word. It denotes a change of category in the sentence, like if we say “There are many archers in the world, but Rama is Supreme”. Rama is in a different category than ordinary archers. Similarly, when the verse says “kṛṣṇas tu”, it says that there are many incarnations, but Krsna is different from the others. What He is? bhagavān svayam. He is the original, supreme Personality of Godhead.
Different from the other incarnations, Krsna does not come from Ksirodakasay Vishnu, rather, He is the source of all Vishnu forms, just like a candle that is used to ignite other candles. All candles emit a similar light, but still, there is one candle that is original. Also implicated in the verse is that Balaram is the direct expansion of Krsna since they are mentioned together in verse 23, and Balarama is Krsna’s constant companion. This understanding is also important.
Srila Jiva Goswami explains at length the reasons for this verse to be considered the paribhasa-sutra on his Sri Krsna Sandarbha. The argumentation is quite long, but the conclusion is that without accepting the conclusion of this verse, one will misinterpret the verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam and thus not be able to come to the right understanding even after reading the book.
Not just the Srimad Bhagavatam, but all long Sanskrit works include verses that have different meanings. They all include one or a few verses that regulate the text, giving the final conclusions by which the whole work should be interpreted. The paribhasa-sutra thus acts as a lens through which the whole book can be understood.
One example of the application of this is the discussion about Krsna and Balarama being avatars of Vishnu, which is common in India. It comes precisely from the misinterpretation of certain verses from the scripture due to the lack of the proper conclusion.
Their argument is that Lord Viṣṇu snatched two hairs, one white and one black, from His head. These two hairs entered the wombs of Rohiṇī and Devakī, leading to the births of Balarama and Krsna.
This story is based on an interpretation of three verses, from the Vishnu Purana, the Mahabharata, and Srimad Bhagavatam.
The central idea is that in the three verses, there is mention of the words Krsna and Kesah. The proponents of the idea that Krsna is an avatar of Vishnu interpret the words as meaning that Krsna appeared from the hair, but Srila Rupa Goswami in the Laghu Bhagavatamrta (Kṛṣṇāmṛta, 156-164), supported by the commentary of Srila Baladeva Vidhyabhusana, as well as Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in the Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha (29), defeat this idea by giving the correct meaning of the words, meaning that Krsna has beautiful hair.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.26, for example, it’s stated:
bhūmeḥ suretara-varūtha-vimarditāyāḥ
kleśa-vyayāya kalayā sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ
jātaḥ kariṣyati janānupalakṣya-mārgaḥ
karmāṇi cātma-mahimopanibandhanāni
The supporters of the Krsna as an avatar of Vishnu interpret the words “sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ jātaḥ” as “a portion of Viṣṇu, being born of white and black hair”, while the correct interpretation, given by Rupa Goswami is “the Lord, with beautiful black hair, descends with His plenary portion.” (the plenary portion being Lord Balarama, Kṛṣṇa’s immediate expansion).
The mistaken interpretations thus go like this: “When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, just to diminish the distress of the world, a black and white hair of the Lord incarnate on the earth. To expand His transcendental glories the Lord acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.”
However, the correct meaning of the verse is:
“When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, with beautiful black hair, descends with His plenary portion. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.”
Another example of a verse that can be misinterpreted is SB 10.43.23:
etau bhagavatah saksad
dharer narayanasya hi
avatirnav ihamsena
vasudevasya vesmani
This verse is usually interpreted as “Krsna and Balaram, who are both plenary expansions of the Original Personality of Godhead, Lord Narayana, have descended to this material world, appearing in the home of Vasudeva.”
In this interpretation, the word “aṁśena” is accepted as meaning “as expansions”, giving the idea that Krsna and Balarama are expansions of Lord Naraya. However, Srila Jiva Goswami explains that the word “aṁśena” in the verse actually means “accompanied by all His plenary portions”. In this way, the actual meaning of the verse is:
“The Original Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and Balarama, have descended to this material world accompanied by all Their plenary expansions. They have appeared in the home of Vasudeva.”
Similarly, other verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures that are often translated as meaning Krsna and Balarama are expansions of Lord Vishnu or other avataras means, in reality, the opposite, that these forms merge into the body of Krsna when He comes to this material world. The problem is just that because the interpreters accept the conclusion that Krsna is an avatar of Vishnu, they tend to interpret the verses incorrectly.
We can see that when the final conclusion of the Srimad Bhagavatam is accepted, that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the real meaning of the verses becomes clear. When however one misses it, he can interpret the verses in other ways, which will be all incorrect. One may thus conclude that Krsna is an avatar of Vishnu, that the absolute truth is ultimately impersonal, or even that there is no God, like in the atheistic Sāṅkhya.
There are other verses that are misinterpreted in similar ways. The Mahabharata (1.189.31) states:
sa cāpi keśau harir uccakarta/ ekaṁ śuklam aparaṁ cāpi kṛṣṇam
tau cāpi keśāv āviśatāṁ yadūnāṁ/ kule striyau rohiṇīṁ devakīṁ ca
tayor eko balabhadro babhūva/ yo ’sau śvetas tasya devasya keśaḥ
kṛṣṇo dvitīyaḥ keśavaḥ sambabhūva/ keśaḥ yo ’sau varṇataḥ kṛṣṇa uktaḥ
This is often interpreted as: “Viṣṇu took two hairs, one white and black. These two hairs entered the wombs of Rohiṇī and Devakī in the Yadu family. The white hair became Balarāma and the black hair became Kṛṣṇa.”
However, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana explains that the correct meaning of this verse is that “The black and white rays of Kṣīrodakaśāyī entered Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma situated in Devakī and Rohiṇī.”
He explains that the correct meaning of the word “kesa” in this verse (as well as in many other verses) is not “hair”, but “rays”. This reveals the correct meaning of the verse, which is that Lord Vishnu (being an Amsa of Krsna enters into Krsna, as well as Balarama when they come to this word). This is supported by many other verses that explain that all the different forms and incarnations merge into Krsna’s body when He comes to display His pastimes.
The correct meaning is thus that Lord Vishnu is an Amsa or a plenary partial expansion of Krsna, and He merges into His body when He comes to display His pastimes. When svayam bhagavān appears, all of his aṁśa forms enter him as well.
Similarly, the Vishnu Purana states:
ujjaharatmanah keshau
sita-krishnau maha-mune
This is often translated as: “O great sage, Lord Vishnu then plucked a white and black hair from His own transcendental body, and these two hairs became His incarnations known as Balarama and Krishna.”
The word “keshau” in the first line consists of the two words “ka” and “ishau”. “Ka” means “blissful” and “ishau” means the two Personalities of Godhead. In the second line, the word “sita” indicates Lord Balarama.
The correct meaning of the verse is thus: “O great sage, The blissful Personality of Godhead, in His splendid original forms as Balarama and Krishna, relieved the burden of the earth.”
Apart from the correct Sanskrit meanings, or acaryas also point out that many other verses in the scriptures (starting with “krishnas tu bhagavan svayam” or “Krsna is the Original Personality of Godhead”, from the Srimad Bhagavatam) directly state that Krsna is the original personality of Godhead. When these three verses are interpreted in the sense of Krsna being the incarnation of the hair, a contradiction is artificially created.
Another argument is that Lord Vishnu is not subjected to old age like us. After a certain age, a man starts to have both white and black hairs, and eventually, all the hairs turn white, but this doesn’t apply to Lord Vishnu (not even the demigods have white hair). Therefore, the version that the above-mentioned words apply to the hairs of Lord Vishnu is not very plausible. The explanations given by Srila Rupa Goswami, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, and Srila Baladeva Vidhyabhusana as well as other acaryas make much more sense.
When Krsna and Balarama, the Lords with beautiful hair come to this world to perform their activities, all the expansions merge into their bodies, including Lord Vishnu, Who merges with them in the form of white and black rays.
When we read Prabhupada’s books, all these conclusions are directly stated, and thus we take it for granted, but there are many discussions like that in the works of the previous acaryas. Srila Prabhupada studied all these works at length and gave the correct conclusions in his books, especially the Srimad Bhagavatam. Yes, Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the source of all incarnations, including Lord Vishnu. Yes, the soul is an eternal servant of Krsna, although we somehow or others have fallen into this material world. Yes, the soul is never created and never destroyed, therefore all souls and all expansions of Krsna are eternal, although different pastimes may give the idea they are created at some point.
These correct conclusions are what allow us to properly understand the scriptures. When one rejects one or more of the correct conclusions, he is barred from understanding the real meaning of the scriptures.
The main qualification for properly translating Sanskrit texts is thus not of being a great Sanskrit scholar, but of properly understanding the conclusions given by the previous acaryas. Without these conclusions, even the greatest scholar will make the most embarrassing mistakes while interpreting the scriptures.
Srila Suta Goswami concludes this section by giving a blessing to the hearers, stating that:
“Whoever carefully recites the mysterious appearances of the Lord, with devotion in the morning and in the evening, gets relief from all miseries of life.” (SB 1.2.29)
There are many verses like this on the Srimad Bhagavatam, offering blessings for anyone who concludes the study of a particular section. These verses are called phala-sruti, or verses that contain a gift. There are many verses like this throughout the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the effect of these blessings shouldn’t be underestimated. In this way, by studying the whole Srimad Bhagavatam we can accumulate many blessings that will make our spiritual advancement much easier.
Concluding for today, verses 30 to 39 bring a new topic, explaining briefly the progression of a transcendentalist all the way from seeing just the material manifestation to seeing the Lord in His form.
Verses 30 and 31 describe the concept of the universal form, which will be described in detail in the second canto. In this concept, one imagines different natural manifestations, and different parts of the universe as being parts of the universal body of the Lord. This meditation can help impersonalists gradually get used to the idea of the Lord having a form, but it is ultimately imaginary because the Lord doesn’t have a material form.
Verses 32 to 34 describe the next step in spiritual realization, understanding that there is a transcendental eternal manifestation behind this material universe. This is the understanding of the Brahman aspect, which brings us to the platform of seeing ourselves as souls transcendental to matter. We attain this platform when we become filled with transcendental knowledge. At this stage, we can see both ourselves, as pure souls, and the Lord.
Verses 35 to 39 conclude the section, by explaining the levels of Paramatma and Bhagavam realization. Although the Lord creates this world, He remains aloof from it, and therefore He is called innactive because He doesn’t perform material activities. On the other hand, the Lord has spiritual activities, and by remembering and discussing these transcendental activities we become fixed in our own transcendental position as spirit souls.
This brings us to verses 40 to 44, which brings the conclusion of this third chapter, answering the last of the six questions asked by the sages.
The Srimad Bhagavatam is the direct incarnation of Krsna, compiled by Srila Vyasadeva for bringing the ultimate good for all people. Vyasadeva taught this great science to his son, Sukadeva Goswami, who in turn transmitted it to Maharaja Pariksit. This Srimad Bhagavatam, who is as brilliant as the sun, can restore the spiritual vision of the people who have been blinded the the darkness and ignorance of Kali-Yuga.
Srila Suta Goswami then ends the third chapter by connecting the narration with his own story:
“O learned brāhmaṇas, when Śukadeva Gosvāmī recited Bhāgavatam there [in the presence of Emperor Parīkṣit], I heard him with rapt attention, and thus, by his mercy, I learned the Bhāgavatam from that great and powerful sage. Now I shall try to make you hear the very same thing as I learned it from him and as I have realized it.”