Go to Vaniquotes | Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanimedia


Vanisource - the complete essence of Vedic knowledge


CC Madhya 20.246 (1975)

Revision as of 00:43, 17 March 2019 by Vanibot (talk | contribs) (Vanibot #0027: CCMirror - Mirror CC's 1996 edition to form a basis for 1975)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada



Below is the 1996 edition text, ready to be substituted with the 1975 one using the compile form.

TEXT 246

guṇāvatāra, āra manvantarāvatāra
yugāvatāra, āra śaktyāveśāvatāra


SYNONYMS

guṇa-avatāra—the incarnations who control the material qualities; āra—also; manu-antara-avatāra—the incarnations associated with the reign of each Manu; yuga-avatāra—the incarnations according to different yugas; āra—and; śakti-āveśa-avatāra—empowered incarnations.


TRANSLATION

“There are incarnations that control the material qualities [guṇa-avatāras], incarnations associated with the reign of each Manu [manvantara-avatāras], incarnations in different millenniums [yuga-avatāras] and incarnations of empowered living entities [śaktyāveśa-avatāras].


PURPORT

The guṇa-avatāras are three—Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu (SB 10.88.3). The avatāras associated with the reign of each Manu, known as manvantara-avatāras, are listed as follows in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Eighth Canto, chapters 1, 5 and 13): (1) Yajña, (2) Vibhu, (3) Satyasena, (4) Hari, (5) Vaikuṇṭha, (6) Ajita, (7) Vāmana, (8) Sārvabhauma, (9) Ṛṣabha, (10) Viṣvaksena, (11) Dharmasetu, (12) Sudhāmā, (13) Yogeśvara and (14) Bṛhadbhānu. All together these are fourteen in number, and of these, Yajña and Vāmana are also counted among the līlā-avatāras. All these manvantara incarnations are sometimes called vaibhava-avatāras.

The four yuga-avatāras are (1) śukla (white) in Satya-yuga (SB 11.5.21), (2) rakta (red) in Tretā-yuga (SB 11.5.24), (3) śyāma (dark blue) in Dvāpara-yuga (SB 11.5.27) and (4) generally kṛṣṇa (black) but in special cases pīta (yellow) as Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Kali-yuga (SB 11.5.32 and SB 10.8.13).

The śaktyāveśa-avatāras are categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption (bhagavad-āveśa), such as Kapiladeva or Ṛṣabhadeva, and (2) divinely empowered forms (śaktyāveśa), of whom seven are foremost: (1) Śeṣa Nāga in the Vaikuṇṭha world, empowered for the personal service of the Supreme Lord (sva-sevana-śakti), (2) Anantadeva, empowered to bear all the planets within the universe (bhū-dhāraṇa-śakti), (3) Lord Brahmā, empowered with the energy to create the cosmic manifestation (sṛṣṭi-śakti), (4) Catuḥsana, or the Kumāras, specifically empowered to distribute transcendental knowledge (jñāna-śakti), (5) Nārada Muni, empowered to distribute devotional service (bhakti-śakti), (6) Mahārāja Pṛthu, specifically empowered to rule and maintain the living entities (pālana-śakti) and (7) Paraśurāma, specifically empowered to cut down rogues and demons (duṣṭa-damana-śakti).