Various Incarnations - 4Various Incarnations - 4

Canto 1 Chapter 3 Text 20-23Canto 1 Chapter 3 Text 20-23

avatāre ṣoḍaśame

paśyan brahma-druho nṛpāntriḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ kupito

niḥ-kṣatrām akaron mahīm

In the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord [as Bhṛgupati] annihilated the administrative class [kṣatriyas] twenty-one times, being angry with them because of their rebellion against the

brāhmaṇas [the intelligent class].

Text 20

The kṣatriyas, or the administrative class of men, are

expected to rule the planet by the direction of the intelligent class of men, who give direction to the rulers in terms of the standard śāstras, or the books of revealed knowledge.

Whenever there is disobedience on the part of the kṣatriyas, or the administrative class, against the orders of the learned and intelligent brāhmaṇas, the administrators are removed by force from the posts, and arrangement is made for better administration.

Parashuram/Bhṛgupati incarnation

Parashuram/Bhṛgupati incarnation

Parashurama killing King Kartavirya

Arjuna.

tataḥ saptadaśe jātaḥ

satyavatyāṁ parāśarātcakre veda-taroḥ śākhā

dṛṣṭvā puṁso 'lpa-medhasaḥ

Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Śrī Vyāsadeva appeared in the womb of

Satyavatī through Parāśara Muni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches,

seeing that the people in general were less intelligent.

Text 21

Originally the Veda is one. But Śrīla Vyāsadeva divided the

original Veda into four, namely Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg, Atharva, and then again they were explained in different branches like the Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata.

The present age of Kali is full of ignorant men. Even those who are born by a brāhmaṇa father are, in the present age, no better than the śūdras or the women.

The twice-born men, namely the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, are expected to undergo a cultural purificatory process known as saṁskāras, but because of the bad influence of the present age the so-called members of the brāhmaṇa and other high-order families are no longer highly cultured.

They are called the dvija-bandhus, or the friends and family members of the twice-born. But these dvija-bandhus are classified amongst the śūdras and the women. Śrīla Vyāsadeva divided the Vedas into various branches and subbranches for the sake of the less intelligent classes like the dvija-bandhus, śūdras and women.

Vyasadeva incarnations

Vyasadeva incarnations

Narada Muni instructing Vyasadeva

nara-devatvam āpannaḥ

sura-kārya-cikīrṣayāsamudra-nigrahādīni

cakre vīryāṇy ataḥ param

In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rāma. In order to perform some pleasing

work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian

Ocean and then killing the atheist King Rāvaṇa, who was on the other side of the sea.

Text 22

The Personality of Godhead Śrī Rāma assumed the form of a

human being and appeared on the earth for the purpose of maintaining the order of the universe.

To annihilate the demons like Rāvaṇa who acted with a spirit of challenging the established order of the Lord.

For example, the attempt to fly to other planets by material means is a challenge to the established order.

The conditions of each and every planet are different, but, puffed up by tiny success in material advancement, sometimes the godless materialists challenge the existence of God.

Rāvaṇa was one of them, and he wanted to deport ordinary men to the planet of Indra (heaven) by material means without consideration of the necessary qualifications.

He even challenged the authority of Śrī Rāma, the Personality of Godhead, and kidnapped His wife, Sītā.

King Rāma incarnation

King Rāma incarnation

Ravan in disguise stealing

Sita

Ravan’s deathLakshman, Ram, Sita &

Hanuman

ekonaviṁśe viṁśatimevṛṣṇiṣu prāpya janmanīrāma-kṛṣṇāv iti bhuvo

bhagavān aharad bharam

In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa in the

family of Vṛṣṇi [the Yadu dynasty], and by so doing He removed the burden of the world.

Text 23

The specific mention of the word bhagavān in this text

indicates that Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are original forms of the Lord.

Lord Kṛṣṇa is not an incarnation of the puruṣa, as we learned from the beginning of this chapter. He is directly the original Personality of Godhead, and Balarāma is the first plenary manifestation of the Lord.

From Baladeva the first phalanx of plenary expansions, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna, expands.

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Vāsudeva, and Baladeva is Saṅkarṣaṇa.

Balaram & Krishna incarnation