VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 4
The Activities of Nara-Nârâyana and the other Avatâras described
(Drumila Explains the Incarnations of Godhead to King Nimi)
The various forms of the past, present and future incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari, and the various transcendental characteristics of each of these avatāras constitute the subject matter of this chapter.
Even if it were ever possible to count all the particles of dust on the face of the earth, any attempt to count all the innumerable transcendental qualities of the unlimited Lord Hari, the foundation of all potencies, would be simply madness. The Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa created the universe out of the five elements manufactured by His own māyā, entered into that universe in the form of the Supersoul and became known as the Puruṣa-avatāra. He effects the work of creation in the mode of passion through the personal form of Brahmā, of protection in the mode of goodness through the form of the Lord of sacrifice, Viṣṇu, and of annihilation in the mode of ignorance through the form of Rudra. Incarnating in the form of Nara-Nārāyaṇa, the greatest of sages, from the womb of Mūrti, the daughter of Dakṣa and wife of Dharma, He preached by His own practical demonstration the science of naiṣkarmyam. When Cupid (Kandarpa) and his hosts were sent to Badarikāśrama by King Indra, who had become fearful and envious at seeing the austerities of Lord Nara-Nārāyaṇa, that best of sages welcomed Cupid as an honored guest. The pacified Cupid then offered prayers to the Supreme Personality Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi. By the order of the sage, Cupid returned from there with Urvaśī and upon presenting himself before Indra related to him everything that had taken place.
The Personality of Godhead Lord Viṣṇu has appeared in various partial incarnations for the benefit of the entire world and has given instructions in spiritual knowledge in the forms of Haḿsa, Dattātreya, Sanaka and the other Kumāra brothers, and Ṛṣabhadeva. In the form of Hayagrīva He killed the demon Madhu and saved all the Vedas. In the avatāra of Matsya, the fish, He protected both the earth and Satyavrata Manu. In the incarnation of Varāha, the boar, He delivered the earth and destroyed Hiraṇyākṣa; in that of Kūrma, the tortoise, He carried Mandara Mountain upon His back; and in the form of Śrī Hari He gave liberation to the king of the elephants. The Lord delivered the Vālakhilyas, who had been trapped in the water in a cow's hoofprint, He delivered Indra from the reaction for murdering a brāhmaṇa, and He delivered the wives of the demigods from imprisonment in the palaces of the demoniac asuras. In the avatāra of Nṛsiḿha, He killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. In the reign of each Manu He kills the demons, fulfills the needs of the demigods and protects all the planetary systems. In the form of Vāmana, the dwarf brāhmaṇa boy, He cheated Bali Mahārāja; in the form of Paraśurāma He rid the earth of kṣatriyas twenty-one times; and in the form of Śrī Rāma He brought the ocean under His submission and killed Rāvaṇa. Descending into the Yadu dynasty, He removed the burden of the earth. In the form of Buddha, by His argumentative preaching in defiance of the Vedas He bewildered the demons who were unqualified to perform sacrifices, and at the end of Kali-yuga He will destroy the śūdra kings in His form of Kalki. In this way the innumerable appearances and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Hari are described.
11.4.1
śrī-rājovāca
yair yaiḥ svacchanda-janmabhiḥ
(1) The honorable king [Nimi] said: 'Please tell us of the activities of each of these self chosen appearances, by which the Lord performed, is performing and will perform in this world [see also 2.7].'
In this Fourth Chapter the son of Jayantī, Drumila, will address King Nimi. The forty-eighth verse of the Third Chapter stated, mūrtyābhimatayātmanaḥ: "One should worship the particular form of the Lord most attractive to oneself." Similarly it was stated in the previous chapter, stavaiḥ stutvā named dharim: "One should bow down to Lord Hari after glorifying Him with prayers." Thus it is assumed that the worshiper has knowledge of the Supreme Lord's transcendental qualities and pastimes in order to execute the process of worship previously described. King Nimi, therefore, is eagerly inquiring about the various incarnations of the Supreme Lord so that he can ascertain which particular form of the Supreme Lord is most suitable for his personal worship. It is understood that King Nimi is a Vaiṣṇava, or devotee, who is trying to advance in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is important to note in this regard that the word abhimata-mūrti, meaning "one's most desirable form," does not indicate that one may concoct a form of the Lord by one's own whim. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33]. All the forms of the Supreme Lord are anādim, or eternal. Thus there is no question of concocting a form, because such a concoction would be ādi, or the origin of the concocted form. Abhimata-mūrti means that among the eternal forms of the Lord one should select that form which most inspires one's love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such love cannot be imitated, but it is automatically aroused when one follows the prescribed rules and regulations given by the bona fide spiritual master and submissively hears these descriptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
11.4.2
(2) S'rî Drumila said: 'Indeed, he who tries to enumerate the unlimited transcendental qualities of the Unlimited One is certainly a person with the intelligence of a child; somehow may one in time count the particles of dust of the earth, but not so the qualities of the Reservoir of all Potencies [see also 10.14: 7, 10.51: 38].
In reply to King Nimi's request that the nava-yogendras describe all the qualities and pastimes of the Lord, Śrī Drumila here explains that only the most foolish person would even attempt such a comprehensive description of the unlimited qualities and pastimes of the Personality of Godhead. Such foolish, childish persons, however, are far more advanced than ignorant materialistic scientists who actually try to describe all knowledge without even referring to the Personality of Godhead. In other words, although it is impossible to describe the Lord fully, foolish atheistic scientists attempt to describe all knowledge without even having reached the most preliminary knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. Such atheistic persons should be understood to be shortsighted and of very weak intelligence, despite their showy material achievements, which ultimately end in great suffering and destruction. It is said that Lord Anantadeva Himself, with His innumerable tongues, cannot even begin to vibrate completely the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The example given in this verse is very nice. No human being can hope to count the number of particles on the surface of the earth; therefore no one should foolishly try to understand the Supreme Lord by his own tiny endeavor. One should submissively hear knowledge of God as it is spoken by God Himself in Bhagavad-gītā, and thus one should gradually be elevated to the stage of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. According to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by tasting a drop of seawater one can get a general idea of the flavor of the entire ocean. Similarly, by submissively hearing about the Personality of Godhead one can acquire a qualitative understanding of the Absolute Truth, although quantitatively one's knowledge can never be complete.
11.4.3
bhūtair yadā pañcabhir ātma-sṛṣṭaiḥ
svāḿśena viṣṭaḥ puruṣābhidhānam
(3) When the Original Personality of Godhead Nârâyana entered His plenary expansion, the from Himself generated body of the universe created out of the five material elements, became He thus known as the Purusha [see also 1.3: 1].
The words bhūtaiḥ pañcabhiḥ in this verse refer to the five gross material elements — earth, water, fire, air and sky — which form the basic building blocks of the material world. When the conditioned living entity enters within these five elements, consciousness becomes manifest, along with the functions of the mind and intelligence. Unfortunately, the consciousness manifest under the modes of material nature is governed by ahańkāra, or false ego, in which the living entity wrongly considers himself the enjoyer of the material elements. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣottama, enjoys His pure transcendental existence in the spiritual sky, the material elements are also meant for His enjoyment, through the process of yajña, or sacrifice. This material world is called Devī-dhāma, or the abode of the illusory energy of the Lord, Māyā-devī. The Brahma-saḿhitā explains that the Supreme Person is not at all attracted to His inferior energy, māyā, but when the material creation is used in the devotional service of the Lord, the Lord becomes attracted by the devotion and sacrifice of the living entities, and thus, indirectly, He is also the enjoyer of the material world.
We should not think that the pastimes of Lord Nārāyaṇa as the Supersoul and creator of this universe are on a lower spiritual level than Nārāyaṇa's eternal pastimes in the spiritual world. Were Lord Nārāyaṇa in any way to diminish His transcendental bliss and knowledge in His activities of material creation, He would have to be considered a conditioned soul, affected by contact with the illusory potency. But since Lord Nārāyaṇa is eternally aloof from the influence of māyā, His activities as the Supersoul of this universe are exactly on the same transcendental level as His activities in the spiritual world. All the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are part and parcel of His unlimited spiritual pastimes.
11.4.4
(4) Within this elaborate three-world body of His are there from His senses both the senses of action and perception of the embodied beings, is there from His nature the spiritual knowledge and from His tradition strength and ability. He is the prime mover [the original doer ànd non-doer] who by the goodness and the other qualities is of creation, destruction and maintenance [see B.G. 3: 27, 13: 30 and S.B. 6.17: 19, 3.26: 7, 3.27: 2, 3.32: 12-15, 10.46: 41, 10.83: 3].
11.4.5
(5) In the beginning manifested He in the creation of this universe through the mode of passion the One commanding the hundreds [of sages: Lord Brahmâ]; in the maintenance as the protector of dharma of the twice-born He became Vishnu, the Lord of Sacrifice and for the annihilation in the mode of ignorance He became Rudra [Lord S'iva]; thus is He the Original Person always of creation, maintenance and destruction among the created beings [see also 2.10: 41-46, 4.29: 79, 4.30: 23].
11.4.6
dharmasya dakṣa-duhitary ajaniṣṭa mūrtyāḿ
nārāyaṇo nara ṛṣi-pravaraḥ praśāntaḥ
(6) As Nara-Nârâyana, the best of sages perfectly of peace, was He born from Mûrti the daughter of Daksha and wife of Dharma [*]. Standing for the cessation of all material work did He, who even lives today and whose feet are being served by the greatest of sages, speak about and perform Himself the work to be done [see B.G. 9: 27 and also 2.7: 6, 4.1: 49-57, 5.19: 9].
11.4.7
(7) Lord Indra afraid thinking 'He wants to usurp my kingdom', engaged Cupid who going to Badarikâs'rama with his associates the Apsaras, with his arrows, the glances of the women and the gentle breeze of spring, not knowing His greatness, attempted to pierce Him.
This verse and the following nine verses illustrate the Personality of Godhead's opulence of supreme renunciation. The word atan-mahi-jñaḥ, "not understanding the glories of the Lord," indicates that King Indra was placing the Personality of Godhead on the same level as he himself, considering the Lord an ordinary enjoyer who would be attracted by mundane sex life. Indra's plot to cause the falldown of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi could not affect the Lord, but it reveals the shortsightedness of Indra himself. Because Indra is attached to his heavenly kingdom, he took it for granted that the Supreme Lord was performing austerities to acquire such flickering phantasmagoria as the kingdom of heaven (tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate).
11.4.8
(8) The Original Godhead understanding the offense committed by Indra, spoke free from pride laughingly to those who were trembling: 'Please fear not, o mighty Madana [Lord of Love], o god of the wind and wives of the demigods, please accept these gifts from Us, do not deny this âs'rama your grace'.
The word gata-vismayaḥ, or "free from false pride," is very significant. If one becomes proud by performing severe penances, such penances are considered material. One should not think, "I am a great, austere personality." Śrī Nara-Nārāyaṇa could immediately understand the foolishness of Indra, and thus He was amused by the whole situation. Cupid and the heavenly women, understanding their great offense, were trembling before Nara-Nārāyaṇa in fear of receiving a powerful curse. But the Lord, exhibiting most sublime saintly behavior, reassured them by saying, mā bhaiḥ — "Don't worry about it" — and actually offered them nice prasādam and articles of worship. "If you do not give Me the opportunity to act as host to the demigods and other respectable personalities," He said, "what will be the use of My āśrama? My āśrama will be void without the opportunity to receive respectable personalities such as you."
Similarly, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is establishing beautiful centers in all the major cities of the world. In some of these centers, such as those in Los Angeles, Bombay, London, Paris and Melbourne, the Society has established very gorgeous preaching āśramas. But the Vaiṣṇavas who live in these beautiful buildings feel that the buildings are void if guests do not come to hear about Kṛṣṇa and chant His holy name. Thus, one may establish a beautiful āśrama not for one's personal sense gratification but to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness peacefully and encourage others to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness also.
11.4.9
(9) O god of men [Nimi], after He who Brings Fearlessness had spoken this way, bowed the gods ashamed to Him, begging with their heads down for compassion saying: 'O Almighty One, such a grace is not so unusual with You, the Supreme One Unchanging to whose feet in great numbers bow down the ones sober and self-satisfied [see also 1.7: 10].
11.4.10
(10) For those who serve You to transcend their material worlds of living and reach Your abode, are there many hindrances created by the enlightened souls [or the demigods], but for the other type of devotee, the devotee who in sacrifices is offering and allots those God-conscious ones their share, there is no such thing because he with You as his Protector with his foot steps over the head that [with those gods] was formed by that obstacle [see also 9.4: * and 10.2: 33].
11.4.11
(11) Some try to defeat the hunger, thirst and other physical conditions that with us in time by the seasons might occur, by controlling their breath, tongue and sexual urges, but [because of that frustration] they fall victim of anger and thus waste the benefit of their difficult austeristies. With their penance rendered useless they are like people who crossed over limitless oceans just to drown in a calf's hoofprint [see B.G. 17: 5-6, 6.1: 16 and compare 5.8: 23 and 10.12: 12].'
11.4.12
(12) With them thus offering praise manifested He before their eyes [a host of] women most wonderful in appearance, who all nicely decorated performed reverential service to the Almighty One [see also 2.7: 6].
Lord Nara-Nārāyaṇa showed His causeless mercy toward the demigods by relieving them of their false prestige. Although the demigods were proud of their personal beauty and female companions, the Lord showed that He was already being adequately served by innumerable gorgeous females, each of whom was far more beautiful than any female companion imagined by the demigods. The Lord manifested such uniquely attractive women through His own mystic potency.
11.4.13
(13) Seeing these women were the followers of the godly bewildered by the magnificence of their beauty and fragrance which rivaled that of the goddess of fortune en were they defeated in their opulence.
11.4.14
(14) To those who bowed down before Him said the Lord of All Lords with a faint smile: 'Please choose any of these ladies suitable as an ornament of heaven.'
Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi was almost laughing upon seeing the defeat of the demigods. However, being extremely grave, He did not actually laugh. Although the demigods might have thought, "We are simply low-class fools in comparison to these women," the Lord encouraged them to choose one of the women, whomever they considered equal in character to themselves. The beauty thus selected would become the ornament of heaven.
11.4.15
(15) Vibrating 'om' to that, offered those servants of the demigods the Lord their obeisances and returned they to heaven with placing Urvas'î, the best of the Apsaras, in front of them.
11.4.16
indrāyānamya sadasi
śakras tatrāsa vismitaḥ
(16) Bowing down to Lord Indra in his assembly told they him, as the residents of the three heavens were listening, about the strength of Nârâyana. He was perplexed.
11.4.17
(17) Acyuta in the form of the [transcendental] swan speaking about selfrealization, Dattâtreya, the Kumâras and Rishabha, is the father, the Supreme Lord Vishnu who for the welfare of the entire world by His expansions descends into this world [B.G. 14: 4]. By Him, the killer of Madhu, were in His horse-incarnation [Hayagrîva] the original texts of the Vedas brought back.
It is stated in the Skanda Purāṇa that the Lord of the universe, Hari Himself, once appeared in the form of a young brahmacārī named Kumāra and spoke transcendental knowledge to Sanat-kumāra.
11.4.18
(18) In His fish-incarnation [Matsya] were Vaivasvata Manu [Satyavrata], the planet earth, and the herbs protected; in His boar-incarnation [Varâha] delivering the earth from the waters, was the demoniac son [Hiranyâksha] of Diti killed; as a tortoise [Kurma] He held the mountain when the nectar was being churned upon His back and [as Vishnu] He freed the king of the elephants [Gajendra] who surrendered to Him in his distress because of the crocodile.
11.4.19
śakraḿ ca vṛtra-vadhatas tamasi praviṣṭam
(19) He delivered from [a laughing] Indra the ascetic sages [the Vâlakhilyas] who offering prayers had fallen [into the water of a cow's hoofprint]; He delivered Indra from the darkness of having killed Vritrâsura; He delivered the wives of the demigods imprisoned in the asura palace [by Bhaumâsura]; as Nrisimhadeva He killed Hiranyakas'ipu, the asura king, in order to bring the saintly devotees fearlessness.
11.4.20
yācñā-cchalena samadād aditeḥ sutebhyaḥ
(20) For the sake of the God-fearing He killed the daitya leaders in the battle between the gods and the demons [see 8.10], by His various appearances [the ams'a-avatâras] during the reign of each Manu He protects all the worlds and as Lord Vâmana took He on the pretext of charity the earth away from Bali to return her to the sons of Aditi.
11.4.21
(21) As Lord Paras'urâma rid He the earth of the members of the ruling class and destroyed He as the fire that He descending from Bhrigu was, twenty-seven times over the dynasty of Haihaya. As the husband of Sîtâ [Râmacandra] subdued He the ocean and killed He Ten-head [Râvana] along with the soldiers of Lankâ. When one tells the stories about the glories of Him who is always victorious, is the contamination of the entire world annihilated.
11.4.22
bhūmer bharāvataraṇāya yaduṣv ajanmā
jātaḥ kariṣyati surair api duṣkarāṇi
vādair vimohayati yajña-kṛto 'tad-arhān
(22) The Unborn Lord [as Krishna] taking His birth in the Yadu-dynasty, will, in order to diminish the burden of the earth, perform deeds even difficult for the godly to perform; as [the Buddha] will He by speculative arguments bewilder the ones unfit to perform the vedic sacrifices and at the end of Kali-yuga will He [as Lord Kalki] put an end to all the low-class rulers.
It is understood that in this verse the description of the Lord's appearance in the Yadu dynasty refers to the appearance of both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who together removed the demoniac rulers who were burdening the earth. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has pointed out that the description of the incarnations to deal with śūdrān, or low-class men, refers to both Buddha and Kalki. Those who misuse Vedic sacrifice to engage in gross sense gratification, such as the sinful killing of animals, are certainly in the category of śūdra, as are the so-called political leaders of Kali-yuga who perform many atrocities in the name of state management.
11.4.23
(23) Of the so very glorious Lord of the Living Being [the Lord of the Universe Jagadîs'vara] thus described, o mighty-armed one, there are innumerable appearances and activities just like these.'
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Fourth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Drumila Explains the Incarnations of Godhead to King Nimi."
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