55. The Lord’s Incarnations

Adhyaya 3 Pada 3 AdhikaraNa 18

The Lord’s Incarnations Are Not Part and Parcel of the Lord, For
They Are the Lord Himself


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



Digressing, for the moment, from the main topic, the author of
the sUtras next considers the nature of the Lord’s incarnations.
In the GopAla-tApanI UpaniShad it is said:


eko vashI sarva-gaH kR^iShNa iDya
eko .api san bahudhA yo .avabhAti


"Lord KR^iShNa is the worshipable, all-pervading
supreme controller, and although He is one, He manifests in many
forms."


In the ViShNu PurANa (1.2.3) it is said:


ekAneka-svarUpAya


"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one, although
He has many forms."

Here it is said that the Lord is one because He remains one
person, even though He appears in many forms, and He is also called many
because of the great variety of these forms. That is the
meaning.

SaMshaya (doubt): Are the incarnations of the Lord, such as
the incarnation Matsya, part and parcel of the Lord in the same
way the individual spirit souls are, or are They different from
the individual spirit souls?

PUrvapakSha (the opponent speaks): There is no difference
between the individual spirit souls and the incarnations of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SiddhAnta (conclusion): In the following words the author of
the sUtras gives His conclusion.


SUtra 44


prakAshAdi-van naivaM paraH

prakAsha - light; Adi - beginning with; vat - like;na - not;
evam - thus; paraH - the Supreme.


The Supreme is not like light or other things.
Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


Although the Lord.as incarnations, such as Lord Matsya, are
called "parts" of the Supreme, They are not like the
individual spirit souls. Here the author of the sUtras gives and
example: "The Supreme is not like light or other things."
As the sun and a firefly may both be called "light", but
are in truth very different, and as nectar and wine may both be
called "liquid", but in truth are very different, so the
individual spirit souls and the incarnations of the Lord do not
have a similar nature, but are very different.


SUtra 45


smaranti ca

smaranti - the SmR^iti-shAstras say; ca - and.


The SmR^iti-shAstras also say it.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


In the VarAha PurANa it is said:


svAMshash cAtha vibhinnAMsha
iti dvedhAMsha iShyate
aMshino yat tu sAmarthyaM
yat-svarUpaM yathA sthitiH


"It is said that there are two kinds of parts and
parcels of the Supreme: direct parts and separated parts. Direct
parts have exactly the same nature as the Lord.


tad eva nANumAtro .api
bhedaH svAMshAMshino kvacit
vibhinnAMsho .alpa-shaktiH syAt
ki~ncit sAmarthya-mAtra-yuk


"Separated parts are different from the Lord. They
are atomic in size and have very slight powers.


sarve sarva-guNaiH pUrNAH
sarva-doSha-vivarjitAH


"All direct parts of the Lord are filled with all
virtues and glories and free of all vices and defects."

In shrImad-BhAgavatam (1.3.28) it is said:


ete cAMsha-kalAH puMsaH
kR^iShNas tu bhagavAn svayam


"All the above mentioned incarnations are either
plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but LordshrI KR^iShNa is the original Personality of Godhead."*

Thus Lord KR^iShNa is the original Supreme Personality of
Godhead and the various incarnations, such as Lord Matsya, are
parts of Him, but they are not different from Lord KR^iShNa, as the
individual spirit souls are. Lord KR^iShNa is like a vaidUrya stone,
which manifests different colors from moment to moment. In this
way Lord KR^iShNa appears in different forms.
In His various incarnations Lord KR^iShNa may display all or
only some of His powers. That is the description of the
scriptures. Lord KR^iShNa, the source of all incarnations, displays
all of His six transcendental opulences in full. When the Lord
does not display all His opulences in full, He appears as an aMsha
incarnation, and when He displays even fewer of His opulences, He
appears as a kalA incarnation. In this circumstance He is like a
great teacher, learned in the six sciences, who in certain
circumstances teaches only a small portion of what he actually
knows.
In the PuruSha-bodhinI UpaniShad it is said that Lord KR^iShNa
appears with all His transcendental potencies, headed by Goddess
RAdhA. In the Tenth Canto of shrImad-BhAgavatam it is said that
various transcendental qualities, such as being supreme over all,
being filled with great love, being accompanied by loving
associates, filling with wonder BrahmA, shiva, and all the
demigods, sages, and wise devotees, manifesting many pastimes,
such as sweetly playing the flute, that fill everyone with
wonder, displaying a great sweetness of transcendental
handsomeness, and being very kind and merciful, are eternally
manifested in YashodA.as infant KR^iShNa. Lord Matsya and the other
incarnations manifest some but not all of these qualities. Still,
the incarnations of the Lord are not like the individual spirit
souls, for the incarnations actually are the Lord Himself.
Now the author of the sUtras presents another argument.


SUtra 46


anuj~nA-parihArau deha-sambandhAt jyotir-Adi-vat

anuj~nA - permission to act; parihArau - cessation from
action; deha - of the body; sambandhAt - from the contact;
jyotiH - eye; Adi - beginning with; vat - like.


Bondage and liberation come from contact with the material
body, like the eye and other things.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


Even though they are parts and parcels of the Supreme, the
individual spirit souls, because beginningless ignorance, and
also because of contact with material bodies, are subject to
material bondage and liberation. The incarnations of the Lord,
such as Lord Matsya, however, are not subject to such things.
This is the description of the shruti-shAstra. In the shruti-shAstra
it is also said that the incarnations of the Lord do not have
material bodies, but are directly the Lord Himself. That is the greatdifference between the individual spirit souls and the
incarnations of the Lord.
The word "anuj~nA" here means "permission".
It is by the Lord.as permission that the individual spirit souls
can perform pious and impious deeds, as the KaushItaki UpaniShad
(3.8) explains:


eSha eva sAdhu karma kArayati


"The Lord engages the living entity in pious
activities so he may be elevated."*

The word "parihAra" means "liberation". This
is described in the shruti-shAstra:


tam eva viditvAti mR^ityum eti


By understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead one is
able to cross beyond this world of death."

Next, speaking the words "jyotir-Adi-vat" (like the
eye), the author of the sUtras gives an example to explain this.
The eyes of the living entities are like small portions of the
sun. However, the eyes depend on the sun for the power of sight,
and if the sun does not give permission, in the form of the
sunlight, the eyes cannot see. In this way the eyes are dependent
on the sun. The sunlight on the sun-planet, however, is identical
with the sun itself, and thus it makes no sense to say they are
dependent on the sun. The difference between the individual
spirit souls and the incarnations of the Lord is like that, the
incarnations being like the sunlight and the souls being like the
eyes.


SUtra 47


asantatesh cAvyatikaraH

asantateH - because of imperfection; ca - not;
avyatikaraH - without bewilderment.


Because it is imperfect there can be no mistake.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


Because he is imperfect, the individual spirit soul cannot
be mistaken for an incarnation of the Lord. The individual spirit
souls are therefore not the same as or equal to the incarnations
of the Lord, beginning with Lord Matsya, who are all perfect. In
the shvetAshvatara UpaniShad (5.9), the individual spirit soul is
described in the following words:


bAlAgra-shata-bAgasya


"If we divide the tip of a hair into one hundred
parts and then take one part and divide this into another one hundred parts,that ten-thousandth part is the dimension of the
living entity."*

Instead of being atomic and limited, as the individual
spirit souls are, the Lord.as incarnations, beginning with Lord
Matsya, are perfect and complete in every way, as the Isha
UpaniShad explains:


pUrnam adaH pUrNam idam


"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and
complete."*

In the following words the author of the sUtras shows the
great fault in thinking the individual soul identical with the
Supreme.


SUtra 48


AbhAsa eva ca

AbhAsaH - fallacy; eva - indeed; ca - also.


It is also a fallacy.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


In this sUtra is refuted the idea that because they are both
called "aMshas", or parts of the Lord, therefore the
individual spirit souls and the incarnations of the Lord are
identical. This idea is based on the logical fallacy of sat-
pratipakSha (undistributed middle). Because of its imperfect
reasoning, this idea is wrong.
The word "ca" (also) here hints that some examples
may be given to show this. One example is that of earth and sky.
Earth and sky are both substances, but that does not mean that
they are identical. Existence and non-existence are both
categories, but that does not mean they are equal. In the same
way the individual spirit souls and the incarnations of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead may both be parts of the Supreme,
but that does not mean that they are equal.