“There is an eternal residence of Nārāyaṇa in the spiritual sky. In the upper portion of the spiritual sky is a planet known as Kṛṣṇaloka, which is filled with all opulences. (213) “The planet of Kṛṣṇaloka is divided into three Sections—Gokula, Mathurā and Dvārakā. (214) “Lord Keśava eternally resides at Mathurā, and Lord Puruṣottama, known by the name Jagannātha, eternally resides at Nīlācala. (215) “At Prayāga, the Lord is situated as Bindu Mādhava, and at Mandāra- parvata, the Lord is known as Madhusūdana. Vāsudeva, Padmanābha and Janārdana reside at Ānandāraṇya. (216) “At Viṣṇu- kāñcī there is Lord Viṣṇu, at Māyāpur Lord Hari, and throughout the universe a variety of other forms. (217) “Within the universe the Lord is situated in different spiritual manifestations. These are situated on seven islands in nine sections. Thus Their pastimes are going on. (218)
“The Lord is situated in all the universes in different forms just to please His devotees. Thus the Lord destroys irreligious principles and establishes religious principles. (219) “Of these forms, some are considered incarnations. Examples are Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Trivikrama, Lord Nṛsiṁha and Lord Vāmana. (220) “My dear Sanātana, just hear from Me as I tell you how the different viṣṇu- mūrtis hold Their weapons, beginning with the disc, and how They are named differently according to the placement of the weapons in Their hands. (221) “The procedure for counting begins with the lower right hand and goes to the upper right hand, the upper left hand, and the lower left hand. Lord Viṣṇu is named according to the order of the weapons He holds in His hands. (222)
“According to the Siddhārtha- saṁhitā there are twenty- four forms of Lord Viṣṇu. First I shall describe, according to the opinion of that book, the location of the weapons, beginning with the disc. (223) “In His lower right hand, Lord Vāsudeva holds a club, in the upper right hand a conchshell, in the upper left hand a disc and in the lower left hand a lotus flower. In His lower right hand, Saṅkarṣaṇa holds a club, in His upper right hand a conchshell, in His upper left hand a lotus flower and in His lower left hand a disc. (224) “Pradyumna holds the disc, conch, club and lotus. Aniruddha holds the disc, club, conch and lotus. (225) “Thus in the spiritual sky the expansions, headed by Vāsudeva, hold weapons in Their own respective order. I am repeating the opinion of the Siddhārtha- saṁhitā in describing Them. (226) “Lord Keśava holds the lotus, conch, disc and club. Lord Nārāyaṇa holds the conch, lotus, club and disc. (227)
“Lord Mādhava holds the club, disc, conch and lotus. Lord Govinda holds the disc, club, lotus and conch. (228) “Lord Viṣṇu holds the club, lotus, conch and disc. Lord Madhusūdana holds the disc, conch, lotus and club. (229) “Lord Trivikrama holds the lotus, club, disc and conch. Lord Vāmana holds the conch, disc, club and lotus. (230) “Lord Śrīdhara holds the lotus, disc, club and conch. Lord Hṛṣīkeśa holds the club, disc, lotus and conch. (231) “Lord Padmanābha holds the conch, lotus, disc and club. Lord Dāmodara holds the lotus, disc, club and conch. (232) “Lord Puruṣottama holds the disc, lotus, conch and club. Lord Acyuta holds the club, lotus, disc and conch. (233) “Lord Nṛsiṁha holds the disc, lotus, club and conch. Lord Janārdana holds the lotus, disc, conch and club. (234)
“Śrī Hari holds the conch, disc, lotus and club. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa holds the conch, club, lotus and disc. (235) “Lord Adhokṣaja holds the lotus, club, conch and disc. Lord Upendra holds the conch, club, disc and lotus. (236) “According to the Hayaśīrṣa- pañcarātra, there are sixteen personalities. I shall now describe that opinion of how They hold the weapons. (237) “Keśava is described differently as holding the lotus, conch, club and disc, and Mādhava is described as holding the disc, club, conch and lotus in His hands. (238) “According to the Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra, Nārāyaṇa and others are also presented differently as holding the weapons in different hands. (239)
“Kṛṣṇa, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, indicated as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, has two names. One is svayaṁ bhagavān, and the other is līlā- puruṣottama. (240) “Lord Kṛṣṇa personally surrounds Dvārakā- purī as its protector. In different parts of the city, in nine places, He expands in nine different forms. (241) “‘The nine personalities mentioned are Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Nārāyaṇa, Nṛsiṁha, Hayagrīva, Varāha and Brahmā.’ (242) “I have already described the pastime and prakāśa forms. Now please hear about the different personal expansions. (243) “The first personal expansion is Saṅkarṣaṇa, and the others are incarnations like the fish incarnation. Saṅkarṣaṇa is an expansion of the Puruṣa, or Viṣṇu. The incarnations such as Matsya, the fish incarnation, appear in different yugas for specific pastimes. (244) “There are six types of incarnations [avatāras] of Kṛṣṇa. One includes the incarnations of Viṣṇu [puruṣa- avatāras], and another includes the incarnations meant for the performance of pastimes [līlā- avatāras]. (245)
“There are incarnations that control the material qualities [guṇa- avatāras], incarnations who appear during the reign of each Manu [manvantara- avatāras], incarnations in different millenniums [yuga- avatāras] and incarnations of empowered living entities [śaktyāveśa- avatāras]. (246) “Childhood and boyhood are the typical ages of the Deity. Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, performed His pastimes as a child and as a boy. (247) “There are innumerable incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, and there is no possibility of counting them. We can simply indicate them by giving the example of the moon and the branches of a tree. (248)
“‘O learned brāhmaṇas, just as hundreds and thousands of small rivulets issue from great reservoirs of water, innumerable incarnations flow from Śrī Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the reservoir of all power.’(249) “In the beginning, Kṛṣṇa incarnates Himself as the puruṣa- avatāras, or Viṣṇu incarnations. These are of three types. (250) “‘Viṣṇu has three forms called puruṣas. The first, Mahā- Viṣṇu, is the creator of the total material energy [mahat], the second is Garbhodaśāyī, who is situated within each universe, and the third is Kṣīrodaśāyī, who lives in the heart of every living being. He who knows these three becomes liberated from the clutches of māyā.’ (251) “Kṛṣṇa has unlimited potencies, out of which three are chief—willpower, the power of knowledge and the creative energy. (252) “The predominator of the willing potency is Lord Kṛṣṇa, for by His supreme will everything comes into existence. In willing, there is a need for knowledge, and that knowledge is expressed through Vāsudeva. (253)
“There is no possibility of creation without thinking, feeling, willing, knowledge and activity. The combination of the supreme will, knowledge and action brings about the cosmic manifestation. (254) “Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa is Lord Balarāma. Being the predominator of the creative energy, He creates both the material and the spiritual world. (255) “That original Saṅkarṣaṇa [Lord Balarāma] is the cause of both the material and the spiritual creation. He is the predominating deity of egotism, and by the will of Kṛṣṇa and the power of the spiritual energy, He creates the spiritual world, which consists of the planet Goloka Vṛndāvana and the Vaikuṇṭha planets. (256) “Although there is no question of creation as far as the spiritual world is concerned, the spiritual world is nonetheless manifested by the supreme will of Saṅkarṣaṇa. The spiritual world is the abode of the pastimes of the eternal spiritual energy. (257)
“‘Gokula, the supreme abode and planet, appears like a lotus flower that has a thousand petals. The whorl of that lotus is the abode of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. This lotus- shaped supreme abode is created by the will of Lord Ananta.’ (258) “By the agency of the material energy, this same Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa creates all the universes. The dull material energy—known in modern language as nature—is not the cause of the material universe. (259) “Without the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s energy, dull matter cannot create the cosmic manifestation. Its power does not arise from the material energy itself but is endowed by Saṅkarṣaṇa. (260) “Dull matter alone cannot create anything. The material energy produces the creation by the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Iron itself has no power to burn, but when iron is placed in fire, it is empowered to burn. (261) “‘Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are the original efficient and material causes of the material world. As Mahā- Viṣṇu and the material energy, They enter into the material elements and create the diversities by multi- energies. Thus They are the cause of all causes.’ (262)
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