Lord Kṛṣṇa, the sweet absolute autocrat and the Supreme Personalty of Godhead, is the main subject matter of this book. Kṛṣṇa’s qualities of aiśvarya (unsurpassable, unlimited opulence and power) and mādhurya (all-attractiveness) eternally reside in Him at their most perfect, surpassing that found in all His other incarnations.
Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, has potencies almost equal to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is the Lord’s vilasa vigraha, or Lord Kṛṣṇa’s expansion for enacting His pastimes. Other incarnations of the Lord such as Matsya and Kurma are partial expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa endowed with slightly lesser potency.
When a living entity, or jīva, is invested with any one of the divine potencies such as jñāna (knowledge), bhakti (devotion), and kriya (action) he is known as avesa. For example, Vyāsadeva was invested with the bhakti potency, Prithu, Mahārāja with the kriya potency, and the four Kumaras with the jñāna potency.
The incarnations of the Supreme Lord are of three main categories: purusa avatāras (incarnations that are partial expansions), guna-avatāras (qualitative incarnations), and līlā-avatāras (incarnations for performing specific pastimes).
Purusa-avatars are of three types: The first purusa is the creator of the mahat-tattva (the aggregate of the total material energy), and He enters the mahat-tattva as the universal soul. This first purusa is known as Karanarnava-sayi Viṣṇu (one who lies on the causal, or karana, ocean), and He is the partial expansion of Lord Sankarsana in Vaikuṇṭha. The second purusa, the universal father of all living entities, gives birth to Lord Brahahma. Known as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, this second purasa is the partial expansion of Pradyumna in Vaikuṇṭha. The third purusa, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the Lord in the heart of every living entity and the partial expansion of Aniruddha in Vaikuṇṭha.
Lord Viṣṇu maintains this material universe as He rests on the ocean of milk (ksira). The quality of goodness (sattva-guna) also helps maintain this universe. Lord Brahma, the secondary creator, was born from the lotus coming from Lord Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s navel. In certain kalpas (a kalpa is a complete cycle of four yugas), a highly elevated and pious jīva is selected for the position of Lord Brahma, who then creates the world. When the chosen jīva is then invested with special powers he is known as an avesa-avatāra. A Lord Brahma of this type still remains in contact with the mode of passion (raja-guna), so he is not considered equal to Lord Viṣṇu.
In kalpas where there are no living entities pious enough to cake the post of Lord Brahma, Lord Viṣṇu Himself chooses to appear as Lord Brahma. For example, in some manvantaras (a tenure of Manu) Lord Viṣṇu’s incarnation of Yajna appears as Lord Indra (the King of the Heavens). So when Yajna appears as Lord Indra and Lord Viṣṇu accepts the position of Lord Brahma, in such manvantaras and kalpas both Lord Indra and Lord Brahma are nondifferent from Lord Viṣṇu in every respect.
The vast material universe, including the seven lower planetary systems like Patalaloka, right up to the topmost planet Satyaloka, is described as the gross body of Lord Brahma. (It can also be described as Brahma.) Hiranyagarbha (another name for Lord Brahma that means “full of gold”), is the subtle presence, or the jīva soul, who resides in the gross form of Brahma.
Lord Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the second purusa-avatāra, is present in Hiranyagarbha’s heart as the Supersoul. and the Supreme controller. Lord Siva, the lord of destruction, annihilates this material cosmos through the quality of ignorance, or tama-guna. Lord Brahma is the Vairaja purusa (the aggregate of the material world, which is also his gross body) as well as Hiranyagarbha (the total soul of the jīva). Brahma is the creator of the universe, born from the lotus emanating from Lord Viṣṇu’s navel. (Brahma also appears as Lord Siva to conduct the work of annihilation).
In different kalpas, sometimes very elevated jīvas or sometimes Lord Viṣṇu Himself, take up the position of Lord Siva. But the one known as Sadasiva, is beyond the reach of the modes of material nature, or gunas, he is the vilsa expansion of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu. Sadasiva is also the fountainhead of Lord Siva, one of the guna-avatāras. Therefore, Sadasiva is superior to Lord Brahma, equal to Lord Viṣṇu, and superior to and separate from the jīvas who are conditioned by the three gunas.
We shall next discuss the līlā-avatāras. Some examples of the līlā-avatāras are the four Kumaras, Nārada, Varaha, Matsya, Yajna, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, Kapila, Datta Hayasirsa, Hamsa, Prsnigarbha, Rsabha, Prthu, Nrsirnha, Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Parasurama, Raghunath, Vyāsa, Balabhadra, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha, Kalki, and so on. Sometimes described as kalpa-avatāras, They appear only once in every kalpa.
The fourteen manvantara-avatāras as follows are another category of the Lord’s incarnations: Yajna, Vibhu, Satyasena, Hari, Vaikuṇṭha, Ajita, Varnana, Sarvabhauma, Rsabha, Visvaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudama, Yogesvara, and Brhadbhanu.
There are four yugas, or millenniums (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali), and the four yuga-avatāras are respectively Sukla, Rakta, Syama, and Kṛṣṇa. Some of the different varieties of avatāras (kalpa-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, and yuga-avatāras) are prabhava incarnations, some vaibhava, and some parāvastha, or ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa-avatāras. Some incarnations in the avesa category are the four Kumaras, Nārada, and Prthu, while Mohini, Dhanvantari, Hamsa, Vyāsa, Datta, and-Sukla are some of the prabhava-avatāras. The vaibhava incarnations display a more superior potency than the prabhavas, and some of Them are listed as follows: Matsya, Kurma, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, Varaha, Hayasirsa, Prsnigarbha, Balabhadra, and Yajna. Even more powerful are the parāvastha-avatāras: Nrsimha, Rama, and Kṛṣṇa who each exhibit more power than the other. Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the source of all incarnations and no other incarnation can supersede Him.
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s four residences, dhamas, are given in descending order of potency Vraja, Mathuna, Dvārakā, and Goloka. Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Balarama, and Their family, along with Vrajadharna, are pamatanza (most complete). In Mathura, Kṛṣṇa and His dhama are purnatara (more complete), and in Goloka, Lord Kṛṣṇa and His dhama are purna-kalpa (complete excellences). Because the Lord’s Goloka pastimes are on the same level as they are in Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa in Goloka is purnatama-samajati (similar in substance, but not the same). However, these peerless, varied features are expressed in purnatamarūpa (to the fullest extent) in Kṛṣṇa’s Vṛndāvana pastimes alone. The element of mādhurya (loving devotional sentiment) is available in an increasing order respectively in Goloka, Dvārakā, Mathura, and fully in Vṛndāvana. The Lord’s aiśvarya-śakti (opulence mixed with awe and reverence) is veiled in proportion to the manifestation of His madhura-līlā. Therefore, as mādhurya increases, aiśvarya decreases to the same degree. So Goloka has more aiśvarya and less mādhurya; Dvārakā. more mādhurya than Goloka and less aiśvarya; Mathura more mādhurya than Dvārakā and less aiśvarya; and Vṛndāvana manifests full mādhurya.
Mahā-Viṣṇu, creating millions of universes, lies on the River Viraja, which is fashioned from the transcendental perspiration of His body. Above the Viraja River lie the vast Vaikuṇṭha planets, the upper region of which is Goloka. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Goloka, resides here, with His associates, performing pastimes saturated with awe, reverence, and opulence. Kṛṣṇa’s vilasa expansion is the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha-Nārāyaṇa, and Brahman is Kṛṣṇa’s impersonal, formless manifestation. Lord Baladeva is the second vyuha expansion of Kṛṣṇa. In Vaikuṇṭha, Sankarsana (Lord Nārāyaṇa, from the second vyuha expansion) the vilasa-avatāra of Lord Baladeva, and Karanarnavasayi Mahā-Viṣṇu (Viṣṇu who lies on the water of the Karana ocean) is Lord Sankarsana’s partial expansion. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the vilasa-avatāra of Mahā-Viṣṇu, as well as the partial expansion of Pradyumna (Lord Nārāyaṇa’s third vyuha expansion). Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s vyuha the partial expansion of Aniruddha (Lord Nārāyaṇa’s fourth vyuha expansion). Incarnations such as Matsya and Kurma are the vilasa forms of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s three dhamas—Dvārakā, Mathura, and Vṛndāvana differ from each other according to how much the Lord manifests His nara-līlā—His earthly, human pastimes—and to what degree of intensity mādhurya is manifest. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s nara-līlā is of two varieties: prakata (manifest) and aprakata (unmanifest). Performing endless pastimes with His intimate associates, Lord Kṛṣṇa reveals all the varied moods of different human ages—balya-līlā (childhood), pauganda (boyhood), kaisora (puberty), and vilasa (mature amorous love). When these eternal pastimes become unmanifest in the material world they are known as aprakata-līlā, but when these same pastimes of the Lord and His associates are manifest in the mundane plane they are described as prakata-līlā.
Lord Kṛṣṇa travels between His different dhamas such as Mathura, Vṛndāvana, and Dvārakā only in His prakata-līlā When the Lord travels we can therefore understand His activities are prakta-līlā Kṛṣṇa’s arrivals and departures from the dhamas do not occur in His aprakata-līlā. The entire prakata-līlā such as His janma-līlā (birth) and mausala-līlā (the internecine conflict that destroyed Yadu dynasty.) are seen in the innumerable universes in an arranged sequence. In each of these universes exist a Vrndavana, Mathura, and Dvārakā visible to the residents of those planets. The Lord’s pastimes may be compared to the sun: The sun is seen during the day in a specific place and time every year, while it yet remains invisible in other areas. Similarly, the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, while remaining in His own abode, Vṛndāvana, reveals His original form in His complete pastimes in one particular universe, but He wishes out of His sweet will to shroud it in other universes.
In prakata-līlā, the Lord’s boyhood pastimes, for example, are con- tinuous and transcendental, enacted in His original form. But the mausala-līlā and (the pastime of kidnapping the captured queens) are like illusions conjured by magic. We must understand that the reason for exhibiting these two krttim-līlā, or make believe pastimes, is to hide the truth that His pastimes are eternal. In Kṛṣṇa’s prakata-līlā some of His associates, by His own will, do see gem studded Vṛndāvana dhama in all its sublime splendour, but others, also by His own will, are not given that vision.
It is worth noting that some very advanced devotees are able to directly view the Lord’s pastimes even after He has concluded His Prakata-līlā. This is because of their profound devotional involvement, their intense spiritual eagerness, and the divine wishes of the Lord.
In this way, it is established that of all the forms and manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Nanda Mahārāja, is paramount, and that amongst His many dhamas Gokula, Vṛndāvana, is the topmost. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s superlative excellences of prema-mādhurya (divine conjugal love), līlā-mādhurya (transcendental pastimes), venu-mādhurya (expertise in playing the flute), and śrī vigraha-mādhurya (matchless beauty) solely existing in Vṛndāvana dhāma.
The following describes the Lord’s devotees. Vaiṣṇavas like Markendeya, Ambarīṣa, Vasu, Vyāsa, Vibhisana, Pundarika, Bali, Uddhava, Dalbhya, Parasara, Bhisma, and Nārada are pure devotees in the true sense. just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be served and worshipped, similarly, His be served and worshipped, otherwise one commits grave offences.
Not all pure devotees are on the same level—there are different grades of pure devotees. Prahlada Mahārāja is considered the best of the pure devotees. The Pandavas are superior to Prahlada; some of the Yadavas are superior to the Pandavas, and Uddhava. is the best of the Yadavas. Superior to Uddhava are the damsels of Vraja Vṛndāvana, and Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the most brilliant gem amongst them .
This essay, Bhāgavatamrta-kana, has been specifically composed for all those readers who have not studied Sanskrit, yet are eager to achieve deep devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa. May their devotion blossom like a golden flower embossed with the jewels of spiritual realization.
Sri Bhägavatamrta-Kana –
Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti Thäkura
Translated by Sarvabhävana däsa
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