SB 1.15.35 (1965)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 35
Yatha matsyadi rupani dhatte jahyat yatha natah Bhubhara kshayito yena jahou tatcha kalevaram.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Yatha—as much as, Matsyadi—incarnation of Fish, etc, Rupani—forms, Dhatte—eternally accepts, Jahyat—apparently relinquishes, Yatha—exactly like, Nata—magician, Bhubharo—burden of the world, Kshayito—relieved, Yena—by which, Jahou—let go, tat—that, cha—also, Kalevaram—body.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Lord let go that body which was manifested by Him in the matter of diminishing the burden of the earth as much as He relinquishes His body like the magician in the matter of accepting different bodies like incarnation of Fish etc.
PURPORT
The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead in neither impersonal nor Formless but His body is non different from Him and therefore He is known as the embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss. In the BrihadvaishnavaTantra it is clearly mentioned that anyone who considers the Form of Lord Krishna as made of material energy must be ostracised by all means of Vedas and the Puranas and if by chance the face of such infidel is seen one must clean himself by dipping in the river with clothings. The Lord is described as Amrita or the deathless because He has no material body. Under the circumstances the so called manifestation of the Lord as dying or quiting the body is nothing but jugglery of the magician. The magician shows by his tricks that he is cut into pieces, he is burnt into ashes or he becomes unconscious by hypnotic influence etc are all false shows only but factually the magician himself is neither burnt into ashes nor he is cut into pieces nor he becomes dead unconscious at any stage of his magical demonstration. Similarly the Lord has His eternal forms of unlimited varieties of which the incarnation Fish as was exhibited within this universe is also one. Because there are innumerable universes, somewhere or other such incarnation of Fish must be manifesting His pastimes without any cessation of the Form. In this verse the particular word Dhatte (eternally accepted and not the word Dhatwa accepted for the occasion) is used. The idea is that the Lord does not create such incarnation of Fish but He has eternally such form and the appearance and disappearance of such causal Forms or incarnations, is to serve a particular purpose of the Lord, as the magician displays varieties of such conditions to serve some purpose. In the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord says (B.G. 7/24-35), "The impersonalists think that I have no form and that I was formless but at present I have accepted one form to serve some purpose and now I am manifested. But such speculators are factually without any sharp intelligence. However they may be good scholars in the Vedic literatures, they are practically ignorant about My inconcievable energies and about my eternal Forms of Personality. The reason is that I reserve the power of not being exposed to the nondevotees on account of My mystic curtain. The less intelligent fools are therefore unware of My eternal Form never to be vanquished and I am unborn." In the Padmapurana it is said that those who are envious and always angry upon the Lord are unfit to know the actual and eternal form of the Lord. In the Bhagwatam also it is said that Lord appeared like the thunder bolt to those who were wrestlers. Sisupala also at the time of being killed by the Lord could not see Him as Krishna, being dazzled by the glare of the Brahmajyoti. Therefore, the temporary manifestation of the Lord as thunderbolt to the wrestlers appointed by Kansa or the glaring appearance of the Lord before Sisupala etc were relinqished by the Lord but the Lord as magican is eternally existent and is never vanquished at any circumstances. Such casual forms are temporarily shown to the Ashuras only and when such exhibitions are withdrawn the Ashuras only think that the Lord is no more existent as much as the foolish audience think of the magician as burnt into ashes or cut into pieces. The conclusion is that the Lord has no material body and therefore He is never to be killed or changed by His transcendental body.