SB 1.3.28

Are all these avatāras equal or are they graded? This verse answers. Those avatāras previously described (ete) and those not described (ca), are aṁśas (Matsya, Kūrma etc.) and some of whom are kalā (Kumāras, Nārada, etc., āveśāvatāras) of the first puruṣa described (Mahā-viṣṇu). Thus it is said in Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta jṣāna-śakty-ādi-kalayā yatrāviṣṭo janārdanaḥ | ta āveśā nigadyante jīvā eva mahattamāḥ || vaikuṇṭhe’pi yathā śeṣo nāradaḥ sanakādayaḥ |: Exalted jīvas empowered by the Lord with portions of his powers such as knowledge are called āveśa forms. Examples existing even in Vaikuṇṭha are Śeṣa, Nārada and the Kumāras. (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.1.18-19) Padma Purāṇa says: Āviṣṭo bhūt kumāreṣu nārade ca harir vibhuḥ | The Supreme Lord invested his powers in the Kumāras and Nārada. āviveśa pṛthuṁ devaḥ śaṅkhī cakrī caturbhujaḥ || etat te kathitaṁ devi jāmadagner mahātmanaḥ | śaktyāveśāvatārasya caritaṁ śārṅgiṇaḥ prabhoḥ || kaler ante ca samprāpte kalkinaṁ brahma-vādinam | anupraviśya kurute vāsudevo jagat-sthitim || The Lord with four hands holding the conch and cakra entered into Pṛthu, O goddess! The activities of the great soul Parāśurāma, a śaktyāveśāvatāra of the Supreme Lord, holder of the bow, has been described. At the end of Kali-yuga, Vāsudeva enters into Kalki, a teacher of spiritual matters, and protects the world. Entering in Kali-yuga into those jīvas who have previously appeared, the Lord carries out his desired activities. Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.4.37, 39, 42 The Kumāras and Nārada are invested with śakti of jṣāna and bhakti. Pṛthu and others are invested with kriyā-śakti--action. Some are invested with great powers and others with little power. Included in the first type with great powers are Kumāras and Nārada. They are called avatāras. Others with less power such as Marīci, and the Manus, are called vibhūtis. But he who was called the twentieth avatāra, Kṛṣṇa is bhagavān, not an aṁśa. Nor is he an aṁśī puruṣāvatāra. He is bhagavān. The avatārī, bhagavān is the source of the puruṣa was already stated in the verse jagṛhe pauruṣaṁ rūpaṁ bhagavān mahad-ādibhiḥ: Bhagavān accepted the form of the puruṣa. (SB 1.3.1) Thus bhagavān is different from the puruṣa. It is said: anuvādam anuktvā tu na vidheyam udīrayet na hy alabdhāspadaṁ kiṣcit kutracit pratitiṣṭhati One should not state a predicate before its subject, for it cannot thus stand without proper support. Ekādaśī-tattva Thus kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān means that Kṛṣṇa (the subject) fulfills completely the qualities inherent in bhagavān, the predicate. It does not mean that Kṛṣṇa is another form of bhagavān. Thus it means that Kṛṣṇa alone is bhagavān, the basis of every other form. This is made clear by the word svayam. This means that Kṛṣṇa is superior to the puruṣāvatāra called bhagavān and even to Mahā-nārāyaṇa. Thus in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is said jyāyāṁś ca pūruṣaḥ: the puruṣa is greater than that; sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: everything is brahman; yat prāṇā ādityā: the prāṇas are the Ādityas. Having said this, everything is summarized by saying kṛṣṇāya devakī-putrāya: this puruṣa sacrifice is subservient to Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.17.6) By this it is understood that Kṛṣṇa is superior to the puruṣa. But Kṛṣṇa is counted among the avatāras, because he appears in Mathurā and other places situated on the earth planet, performs pastimes like a human, shows mercy to the people of the material world, and appears and disappears. Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad thus says: sa hovācābja-yonir yo ’vatārāṇāṁ madhye śreṣṭho ’vatāraḥ ko bhavati yena lokās tuṣṭā bhavanti, yaṁ smṛtvā muktā asmāt saṁsārāt taranti | kathaṁ āsyāvatārasya brahmatā bhavati Brahmā said: who is the best among all the avatāras, by which all the people are satisfied, whom remembering, they become liberated from this world? How is this avatāra the supreme brahman? “But how can you establish that Kṛṣṇa is the complete form of God on the basis of this one statement, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam? There are countless statements which refute this such as the following: yadoś ca dharma-śīlasya nitarāṁ muni-sattama tatrāṁśenāvatīrṇasya viṣṇor vīryāṇi śaṁsa naḥ O best of munis, you have also described the descendants of Yadu, who were very pious and strictly adherent to religious principles. Now, if you will, kindly describe the wonderful, glorious activities of the expansion of Lord Viṣṇu, who appeared in that Yadu dynasty. SB 10.1.2 diṣṭyāmba te kukṣi-gataḥ paraḥ pumān aṁśena sākṣād bhagavān bhavāya naḥ mābhūd bhayaṁ bhoja-pater mumūrṣor goptā yadūnāṁ bhavitā tavātmajaḥ O mother Devakī, by your good fortune and ours, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, as an expansion, is now within your womb. Therefore you need not fear Kaṁsa, who has decided to be killed by the Lord. Your eternal son, Kṛṣṇa, will be the protector of the entire Yadu dynasty. SB 10.2.41 tāv imau vai bhagavato harer aṁśāv ihāgatau bhāra-vyayāya ca bhuvaḥ kṛṣṇau yadu-kurūdvahau That Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, whose a partial expansion is Kṛṣṇa, has now appeared in the dynasties of Yadu and Kuru, in the forms of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna respectively, to mitigate the burden of the world. SB 4.1.59 At t In the beginning of Bhāgavatam, this chapter concerning the mysterious appearance of the Lord (janma guhyaṁ bhagavato, SB 1.3.29) is called a sūtra, since it threads together (sūc) statements concerning all the avatāras. And in this chapter, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam is a paribhāṣā-sūtra, which supplies a general definition for the whole work. Thus, wherever avatāras are described in the Bhāgavatam, others should be known as expansions of the puruṣāvatāra, but Kṛṣṇa should be known as svayam bhagavān. This conclusion is prevalent everywhere in the Bhāgavatam. It has been said: paribhāṣā hy eka-deśasthā sakalaṁ śāstram abhiprakāśayati yathā veśma-pradīpa The paribhāṣā statement, situated in one place, lights up the whole scripture, just as a lamp lights up the whole house. This sūtra appears once in the work and is not continually repeated. Though there are millions of statements in the scripture, this sūtra controls them all like a king. Thus statements which contradict the sūtra must be explained so that they agree with the sūtra. That is because these contrary statements are weak, since they belong to secondary subjects in the work, and because the sūtra’s statement is strong, being supported by śruti. Thus these statements should be harmonized with the sūtra by giving them another meaning, according to the rule śruti-liṅga-vākya-prakaraṇa-sthāna-samākhyānāṁ samavāye pāradaurbalyam artha-viprakarṣād; where there is a combination of direct statements, inference, rules, discussion, philosophical stances, and interpretations, the later statements are considered progressively weaker in authority, because of their possibility of contrary meaning. (Jaiminī-sūtra 3.3.14) This is not just deference to a rule. Śrīdhara Svāmī has reconciled things in this way in many places. Since there are many different avatāras such as Matsya and Kūrma, and Kṛṣṇa himself has two-armed and four-armed forms, and as well displays ages such as kaumāra and kaiśora, and they are all said to be eternal, does that mean that there are many Gods? No. The Tenth Canto says bahu-mūrty-eka-mūrtikam: he is one God manifested as many. (SB 10.40.7) The jīva at different times shows different temporary forms with less or more power, but the one Supreme Lord who pervades everything, by his inconceivable energy, can simultaneously have infinite eternal forms which are not different from him. The jīvas show infinite variety simply because there are infinite jīvas. The Lord shows infinite variety of forms by being one person. Thus when the jīva sees the Lord he perceives the Lord as if there are many Lords, like jīvas. The supreme lord, bliss alone, knowledge alone, and all pervading, manifests aṁśī and aṁśa. Is it possible for the indivisible Lord to be divided and subdivided? Mahā-varāha Purāṇa says: sarve nityāḥ śāśvatāś ca dahās tasya parātmanaḥ | hānopādāna-rahitā naiva prakṛtijāḥ kvacit || paramānanda-sandohā jṣāna-mātrāś ca sarvataḥ | sarve sarva-guṇaiḥ pūrṇā sarva-doṣa-vivarjitāḥ || All the forms of the Lord are eternal, appearing constantly within the material world with bodies of Paramātmā, without any destructible elements made of prakṛti. They are completely filled with the highest bliss and knowledge, full of all good qualities and devoid of all faults. This is true, but though the aṁśa forms are perfect and complete, they are called aṁśa because they display only various degrees of the lord’s qualities such as sweetness, power, and mercy. According to the particular goal, lesser powers are shown, in the forms known as aṁśa. Real completeness means fully displaying all the powers in full. This takes place in the aṁśī. In Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta it is said: śakter vyaktis tathāvyaktis tāratamyasya kāraṇam || śaktiḥ samāpi pūryādi-dāhe dīpāgni-puṣjayoḥ | śītādy-ārti-kṣayenāgni-puṣjād eva sukhaṁ bhavet || The manifestation and non-manifestation of śakti is the cause of grading the aṁśī and the aṁśa. Though the śakti of the lamp and the bonfire is the same in that both can burn down a town, only from the bonfire one obtains comfort because it destroys cold and other types of suffering. Thus the difference between different forms because of display of complete or partial features has been experienced by the great realized devotees. āsīnam urvyāṁ bhagavantam ādyaṁ saṅkarṣaṇaṁ devam akuṇṭha-sattvam | vivitsavas tattvam ataḥ parasya kumāra-mukhyā munayo ’nvapṛcchan || svam eva dhiṣṇyaṁ bahu mānayantaṁ yad vāsudevābhidham āmananti || Some time ago, being inquisitive to know, Sanat-kumāra, the chief of the boy-saints, accompanied by other great sages, inquired exactly like you about the truths regarding Vāsudeva, the Supreme, from Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is seated at the bottom of the universe. At that time Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa was meditating upon His Supreme Lord, whom the learned esteem as Lord Vāsudeva. SB 3.8.3-4 There is nothing contradictory if there are differences between the aṁśī and aṁśa, since the Lord is spiritual substance. Varāha Purāṇa says svāṁśaś cātha vibhinnāṁśa iti dvedhāṁśa iṣyate: there are two types of aṁśas, the expansions of the Lord and the jīvas. Śrīdhara Svāmī says, “Though the forms such as Matsya possess all powers and all knowledge since they are avatāras, according to the circumstances they display certain amounts of knowledge and action, and the Lord enters into the Kumāras, Nārada and others by his expansions or parts of his expansions. There is an ancient explanatory verse: nṛsiṁho jāmadagnyaś ca kalkiḥ puruṣa eva ca | bhagavattve ca tatrāder aiśvaryasya prakāśakāḥ || nārado ’tha tathā vyāso varāho buddha eva ca | dharmāṇām eva vaividhyād amī dharma-pradarśakāḥ || rāmo dhanvantarir yajṣaḥ pṛthuḥ kīrti-pradarśinaḥ | balarāmo mohinī ca vāmanaḥ śrī-pradhānakāḥ || dattātreyaś ca matsyaś ca kumāraḥ kapilas tathā | jṣāna-pradarśakā ete vijṣātavyā manīṣibhiḥ || nārāyaṇo naraś ceti kūrmaś ca ṛṣabhas tathā | vairāgya-darśino jṣeyās tat-tat-karmānusārataḥ || kṛṣṇaḥ pūrṇa-ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-mādhuryāṇāṁ mahodadhiḥ | antarbhūta-samastāvatāro nikhila-śaktimān || Nṛsiṁha, Parāśurāma, Kalki, and the puruṣāvatāras show the power of the Lord. Nārada, Vyāsa, Varāha, and Buddha show dharma, because they preach various paths of dharma. Rāma, Dhanvantari, Yajṣa and Pṛthu display fame. Balarāma, Mohinī and Vāmana display beauty. Dattātreya, Matsya, the Kumāras and Kapila display knowledge which should be known by the wise. Nara-nārāyaṇa, Kūrma and Ṛṣabha display detachment by their respective actions. Kṛṣṇa is the great ocean of complete sweetness and complete display of the six aiśvaryas mentioned in the other forms above. He contains all avatāras within himself, and is the possessor of all śaktis. The verse mentions the goal common to all the avatāras. The avatāras create happiness (mṛḍayanti) in the world whenever (yuge yuge) it is afflicted (vyākulam) by the demons (indrāri) and their ideas.