The Forms of Sri Krishna and the Classification of His Avatars According to the Gaudiya Tradition
Jīva Gosvāmī explains that among the incarnations, Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the supreme. Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, but he was not liberated. He took birth again, because he did not recognize Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, this was the case with Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, who were killed by Rāmacandra. They did not recognize in Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore they had to accept further births. Finally, Kṛṣṇa killed Śiśupāla and Dantavakra, and then they recognized: “Oh! This is the Supreme Personality of Godhead!” For this reason they were ultimately liberated. It is said that if someone is a demon and has the good fortune to be killed directly by Kṛṣṇa, he is truly liberated and returns to the spiritual world.
Someone may ask what the point is of understanding who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is at all. If there are so many forms of God, surely we can receive benefit from all of them. The Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta of Rūpa Gosvāmī gives the following example:
“A small lamp and a great fire are equally effective in burning down a house or other things, but only a great fire gives relief when we are touched by cold. In the same way, the more the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests His transcendental qualities, the more devotees and living beings in general find relief from the cycle of birth and death.”
With reference to the degree of opulence manifested in the different forms of God, the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta also explains that there are pūrṇa-avatāras, who manifest 100% of the Lord’s opulences, as well as aṁśa-avatāras, who manifest—here we have a very precise percentage—one quarter of the Lord’s opulences. Certain examples are given, namely the entire list of the fourteen manvantara-avatāras, who are regarded as aṁśa-avatāras, and then the kalā forms, which are considered parts of plenary parts. They are expansions of expansions. The Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta states that they manifest 1/16 of the opulences of the Supreme Lord. Of course, one might ask how we can understand such numbers in relation to the unlimited potencies of the Supreme Lord. In one sense, we cannot, but the śāstras give us such calculations to provide us with some idea of these relationships. It is also mentioned that the vibhūti expansions constitute 1/100 of the opulences of the Supreme Lord. What are vibhūti expansions? They refer to the expansions described, for example, in the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. That chapter is technically called vibhūti-yoga. There it is said: “Among fish I am the shark, among mountains I am Meru,” and so on. Various forms are given there as examples of vibhūti manifestations, which, incidentally, come from the guṇa-avatāras: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva.
All right, are there any questions about this? Yes.
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: I always wanted to check this. I would say that it actually means possessing the same power. It means an expansion which is a part, but which is not less significant than the original.
Question: … Mahā Saṅkarṣaṇa …
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: That is the ādi catur-vyūha; my understanding is that He is Mahā–Saṅkarṣaṇa. Sometimes Aniruddha is also called Mahā–Aniruddha.
Question: [inaudible – question related to the Kṛṣṇa–Balarāma incarnation]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, that is true; that requires a different chart of relationships that could show this (KKS laughs). I wanted to prepare such a chart, but it was beyond my intelligence. Maybe someone will come up with an idea of how it should be done. Any other questions?
OK. Now we can deal with the other side of tad-ekātma-rūpa. These are the svāṁśa-avatāras. The word svāṁśa is sometimes translated as “personal expansion.” It should be mentioned here that avatāras are also divided into prabhava and vaibhava avatāras. Generally, it is said that there are six types of avatāras: puruṣa-avatāras, guṇa-avatāras, yuga-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, līlā-avatāras, and śaktyāveśa-avatāras. On careful study, one can notice that some of these categories overlap; especially śaktyāveśa, which is actually the same as āveśa-rūpa. Many līlā-avatāras will be regarded as śaktyāveśa avatāras. In other words, there is jīva-tattva—for example Nārada Muni, Dattātreya, Ṛṣabha, Pṛthu, Paraśurāma, Vyāsadeva, and Lord Buddha—they are jīva-tattvas; there may also be other persons I may have forgotten.
Taking these categories into account, we see that they overlap. A few general points about avatāras: the word avatāra of course means “one who descends.” Śrīla Prabhupāda combines in an interesting way the words avatāra and avaroha-paṇthā. Avaroha-paṇthā means the “descending path”: the path of receiving knowledge descending from above, from the Supreme Lord, and the path of receiving His mercy through His appearance in this material world—these two are to a large extent connected. There is the concept called avatāra-vāda, that is, the understanding or the philosophical principle of understanding that God descends into the material world. If we go back to the various mistaken ideas about the forms of God that we discussed earlier, we will notice what kinds of mistaken ideas about avatāras will be held by those who have formed such misconceptions previously. But when we understand the Lord’s identity as the Supreme Spiritual Form, then there is no difficulty in understanding how He can descend into the material world.
In general, we can say that the Lord performs two kinds of activities in connection with the material world. Of course, in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa explains: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7) and paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge (BG 4.8). Kṛṣṇa appears in order to deliver the devotees and annihilate the demons, as well as to establish the principles of religion. Another way of looking at the Lord’s appearance, or His relationship with the material world, is to consider it in terms of maintenance and destruction (which includes creation and the establishment of religious principles). In this case, the Lord appears in different forms to perform these functions. For example, the puruṣa-avatāras perform the function of creation, the manifestation of the material cosmos; the guṇa-avatāras perform the three activities—creation, maintenance, and annihilation. The yuga-avatāras are engaged in establishing religious principles; the manvantara-avatāras maintain human society by establishing dharma, including religious and social principles. There are also the līlā-avatāras, who are again involved in creation and maintenance, as well as in giving knowledge. Examples here can be the four Kumāras, Nārada Muni, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, Dattātreya, Haṁsa—they give knowledge; and also destruction—we have Paraśurāma and Kalki, who are engaged in various types of destruction.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura mentions that these principles, these aspects of the Lord’s relation with the material world—creation, maintenance, and destruction—are realized to some degree by jñānīs. There is, however, another principle which says that the Lord manifests His pastimes in connection with the material world in order to manifest His spiritual pastimes within the universe. The Lord has His pastimes in the spiritual world, which He performs without interruption, but from time to time He manifests these same pastimes in the material world. We see that they are especially manifested in Vṛndāvana, Mathurā, and Dvārakā. Both of these types of activities have two functions: one is to attract the attention of conditioned souls so that they give up material life and take up spiritual life; the other is to enliven the liberated souls. Specifically, in enlivening liberated souls, the point is to awaken the ecstatic emotions of the liberated souls, namely of the devotees.
This brings an interesting topic, which in a certain sense may appear somewhat “dry,” but I think it is important that we appreciate it. The Nectar of Devotion is divided into various parts. The first deals with sādhana-bhakti—both vaidhi-sādhana and rāgānugā-sādhana-bhakti. The second part deals with different kinds of emotions, different aspects of how the emotions of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa are developed. There we find various terms: anubhāva, sthāyi-bhāva, and vibhāva, and one or two more. Vibhāva means the stimuli of ecstatic love. It is then explained that there is a certain factor which acts so that a bhakta is stimulated in his ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. One of these factors is Kṛṣṇa’s qualities. What follows later in the Nectar of Devotion is a list with explanations of Kṛṣṇa’s sixty-four qualities. After that, there is a description of who the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are and in what different ways the devotees awaken ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Then the bodily features of Kṛṣṇa are described as a means by which He awakens ecstatic emotions in the devotees. When we read the Nectar of Devotion—perhaps we will be able to read a few passages tomorrow—we see that whenever a particular quality of Kṛṣṇa or a particular aspect of His bodily beauty is described, quotations immediately follow from a devotee who expresses his mood of ecstasy on perceiving that particular aspect of the Lord.
In other words, we may again ask: Why does Kṛṣṇa appear in so many forms, performing so many activities in so many forms? Why does Kṛṣṇa not simply perform all these activities in one single form—why does He complicate things so much? It is because Kṛṣṇa is unlimited, and His desires are also unlimited. He wants to fulfill the desires of the devotees as well; therefore Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with the devotees and fulfills His own desires. For example, when the Lord appeared as Nṛsiṁhadeva, He manifested His anger, which would not be appropriate for Kṛṣṇa as a cowherd boy. That would not be proper or tasteful; it would have no rasa. But devotees relish that the Lord appears as Nṛsiṁhadeva and manifests His anger in this form. Devotees are in no way repelled when the Lord manifests His unlimited anger as Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. In the same way, every appearance of Kṛṣṇa in different forms is completely appropriate. There is a certain expression, “appropriate technology”; the Lord also has such appropriate “technology” when He appears. He always appears in exactly the fitting form in order to fulfill His own purposes, to satisfy the devotees, and to awaken ecstatic emotions in them.
Returning to the first purpose, namely attracting the attention of conditioned souls so that they give up material life and take up spiritual life—the Lord appears according to the various kinds of conditioning under which a given soul finds itself. In this connection there is a very interesting quotation from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura regarding the daśāvatāras—the most famous among the līlā-avatāras. I shall now read a few sentences. Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said to Professor Suthers:
“We may observe the various stages of animal life, from invertebrates (which means without a backbone) to vertebrates, up to fully developed human beings. These stages have been classified by Indian sages in a scientific way into ten orders, namely: (1) invertebrates, (2) crustaceans, (3) vertebrates, (4) upright vertebrates, (5) (?), (6) barbarians, (7) civilized, (8) wise, (9) extremely wise, (10) destructive. These are the historical stages of the jīvas. Corresponding to this gradation of stages, as a sign of the development of the mood of service in the soul, the jīva, ten incarnations of God are manifested, namely Matsya (fish), Kūrma (tortoise), Varāha (boar), Nṛsiṁha (man-lion), Vāmana (dwarf), Paraśurāma (connected with barbarism), Rāma (connected with civilization), Kṛṣṇa as a sage, Buddha as a great sage, and Kalki as destroyer. It is worthy of worship to adore them with their eternal transcendental names, attributes, forms, and activities. Those who seek true knowledge of the incarnations will, by the mercy of great philosophers trained in the school of Lord Caitanya, be able to know the anthology of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the truth about Him, especially the intensely sweet charm of His pastimes in Vraja, that is, Vṛndāvana.”
It is also mentioned by Śrīla Prabhupāda in one of his purports that the Lord appears in all species of life, even in the plant kingdom, in order to liberate different kinds of living beings. Of course, how exactly this takes place is perhaps beyond our understanding, but let us recall what Kṛṣṇa declares in the Bhagavad-gītā: janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ—“One who understands the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take birth again in this material world, but attains My abode.” We thus see that it is not easy to understand these things, yet again the conclusion is easy to understand, and this is shown by Prahlāda Mahārāja in his prayers to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva:
itthaṁ nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-deva-jhaṣāvatārair
lokān vibhāvayasi haṁsi jagat-pratīpān
dharmaṁ mahā-puruṣa pāsi yugānuvṛttaṁ
channaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo ’tha sa tvam
He says:
“My dear Lord, You appear in all these different forms—as animals, as demigods, as sages, as aquatic incarnations—and in this way You maintain this world and destroy its adversaries, and You establish the principles of religion. But in this age of Kali You do not manifest Yourself openly. In this age You appear rather in a covered form—channa-avatāra.”
Channa means “covered” and obviously refers to Lord Caitanya.
We can speak tomorrow about how all this transcendental knowledge that we receive about the different forms of God becomes enlivened when we appreciate who Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is. Having appreciated this, we also appreciate His great mercy—śrī kṛṣṇa-caitanya daya karo haḍa vicāra, vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra—if you simply reflect on the mercy of Lord Caitanya you will find it most astonishing.
Are there any questions up to this point?
Question: [inaudible, concerning the colors of the yuga-avatāras]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, it is true that it is sometimes said that the appearance of Lord Caitanya in a golden color is an exception to the general rule.
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Well, according to the definition we find in the purport in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta—kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana—“No one can propagate the glories of Kṛṣṇa unless he is empowered by Him.” This is a verse referring to śaktyāveśa-avatāras. So we can say it in that sense.
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, these classifications are there, especially at one point, so it seems that different classifications can be found in different śāstras, especially in various Purāṇas and āgama-śāstras, different Pañcarātra-saṁhitās. Sometimes they appear particularly inconsistent. For example, in the Bhāgavatam one can find a list of līlā-avatāras; some versions contain twenty-two names, others twenty-five, and so on. You encounter the same thing when you study sāṅkhya—there is one list of about nine elements and another list of twenty-seven elements for the material world. Different sages present this aspect in different ways, and therefore it looks the way it does.
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: I have always understood that he is jīva-tattva. Has anyone read anything different on this? It is interesting that in this conversation of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura with the professor he refers to Lord Buddha. Of course, this should be related to the person he was instructing, since he wanted to make the topic clearer for him. He calls Lord Buddha “Buddha–Viṣṇu,” and Lord Caitanya “Caitanya–Viṣṇu.” Many of these things are, to some extent, a matter of different angles of vision. Sometimes even the distinction between jīva- and viṣṇu-tattva can become blurred, especially when we consider Lord Śiva. Śrīla Prabhupāda says that he is neither this nor that—he is very mysterious. When we think of Anantaśeṣa, who is regarded as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, we may ask how it is that Anantaśeṣa is the same as Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is an expansion of Lord Balarāma. How is it that he is considered a śaktyāveśa-avatāra? Well, that is an interesting question (KKS laughs). Hmm, we shall see…
Yes, here we have a few verses from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that I would like to read to show another classification. This is in the second chapter of the Ādi-līlā, text 97:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appears in six primary expansions. His two expansions are prābhava and vaibhava.”
Purport:
“Now the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta returns to describing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in His unlimited expansions. The Lord expands mainly in two categories, namely prābhava and vaibhava. The prābhava forms are manifested in relation to powers; the vaibhava forms are manifested in relation to perfections. Manifestations of prābhava also appear in two types: temporary and eternal. The forms Mohinī, Haṁsa, and Śukla are manifested only temporarily, in a particular age. Among other prābhava forms, which are not very well known in material estimation, are Dhanvantari, Ṛṣabha, Vyāsa, Dattātreya, and Kapila. Among the vaibhava-prakāśa forms are Kūrma, Matsya, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, Varāha, Hayagrīva, Pṛśnigarbha, Baladeva, Yajña, Vibhu, Satyasena, Hari, Vaikuṇṭha, Ajita, Vāmana, Sarvabhauma, Ṛṣabha, Viśvaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudhāmā, Yogeśvara, and Bṛhadbhānu.”
Then text 100:
“In these six kinds of forms there are innumerable expansions. Although they are many, they are all one; there is no difference between them.”
Purport:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in six different features: (1) prābhava, (2) vaibhava, (3) empowered incarnations, (4) partial incarnations, (5) childhood, and (6) boyhood. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose permanent feature is eternal youth, performs His transcendental activities through pastimes in these six forms. Within these six features there are innumerable divisions of the forms of the Supreme Lord. The jīvas, that is, the living entities, are differentiated, integral parts of the Lord. All of them are varieties of the one without a second, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
It may be surprising what is meant by the boyhood and childhood stages. This brings us back to the point we discussed, namely the awakening of ecstasy in the devotees. When the Lord manifests His pastimes in Vṛndāvana, one of the particular features of His Vṛndāvana–līlā in the material world is that He displays His childhood and boyhood pastimes. In the spiritual world, in Goloka–Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa is not a small child; He is an adult. Mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja are there, but Kṛṣṇa is eternally in the kaiśora age. The kaumāra and paugaṇḍa stages are not manifested there. However, when Kṛṣṇa appears in the material world, He manifests these two features. This is a special concession or distinction granted by the Lord in connection with the material world. Therefore, these two aspects of His pastimes are specific features of His appearances. Of the six, two are connected with His boyhood.
Regarding the positions of the various forms of the Lord in different parts of the spiritual sky (this also comes from Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta):
“In the directions beginning with the northeast, the palaces of Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī, Rati, and Kanti are situated. In the second part of the spiritual sky the twenty-four expansions of Lord Viṣṇu, beginning with Lord Keśava, are manifested in eight directions and divided into groups of three. In the first part of the spiritual sky there are the ten incarnations of the Lord, beginning with Matsya and Kūrma, going out in the ten directions. In the fourth part of the spiritual sky, Satya, Acyuta, Ananta, Durgā, Viśvaksena, Gaṇeśa, Śaṅkha-nidhi, and Padma-nidhi are manifested in eight directions. In the fifth part of the spiritual sky, the four Vedas beginning with Ṛg Veda, Sāvitrī, Garuḍa, piety, and sacrifice are manifested as previously. In the sixth part of the spiritual sky, the conch, disc, club, lotus, sword, bow, and staff are manifested. In the seventh part of the spiritual sky the devotees headed by Indra are manifested.”
(It is mentioned here that this is not the same Indra as the one in the material world.)
“Seventy-four forms of the Lord, beginning with the form of Lord Vāsudeva, are manifested in the same number (74) on the planets of the spiritual sky.”
We can see that the spiritual world is a very wonderful place (KKS laughs).
Hmm, what else?
OK, here we have another interesting point, which is sometimes a bit bewildering or disturbing. It is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the description of the appearance of Lord Varāha, that according to the ācāryas, Varāhadeva appears twice, and the two descriptions of His different appearances are combined into one account. It seems that this is one example among many such cases in which līlā-avatāras or other avatāras appear several times. With respect to Varāhadeva it is said:
“In the first kalpa Varāhadeva appeared twice—once to rescue the Earth in the Svāyambhuva Manu age (Svāyambhuva-manvantara), from the nostrils of Brahmā, and in the Cākṣuṣa-manvantara He appears from the water. Thus once He appears from the navel of Lord Brahmā and another time from the water. Sometimes Varāha is a wild animal from the forest, sometimes He is a domestic animal. Sometimes He is dark like a raincloud, and sometimes He is white like the moon.”
This quote also comes from Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta. This is just one example, but many are listed—different details and aspects, differences in the various appearances of the līlā-avatāras. In this way we can also understand that the Lord’s pastimes and His forms are unlimited. Therefore it is also mentioned that attempting to describe the Lord’s pastimes is the undertaking of a fool. Even Ananta Śeṣa, who from the beginning of creation chants the glories of the Lord, never comes to the end of describing His pastimes. So what to speak of us? We can only endeavor to serve.
Any questions? Yes?
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: As far as I have been able to understand from the descriptions in the Eleventh Canto, the yuga-avatāras are a kind of position. For example, Vyāsadeva—Vyāsa is a position occupied by different persons, just as Lord Brahmā is. In different ages, different persons occupy this position. It is also mentioned in connection with Lord Caitanya that Kṛṣṇa was contemplating appearing in the material world as Lord Caitanya. The first two or three chapters (of Caitanya-caritāmṛta) describe how Kṛṣṇa decided that He wanted to appear as Lord Caitanya. It is said that at the time when He was thinking of appearing as Lord Caitanya, the time came for the yuga-avatāra to appear. This time when the Lord wanted to appear as Lord Caitanya coincided with the time for the yuga-avatāra to appear. Therefore Kṛṣṇa decided: “All right, now I shall be the yuga-avatāra. I shall personally fill that role.”
It is also stated in the Eleventh Canto, in the description of the yuga-avatāras, that the yuga-avatāra who appeared in Satya-yuga was worshiped by different persons under different names. A whole list of seven different names is given there. Later in the purport Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja explains that according to the understanding or faith of different people, they worship the Lord under His various names. It thus seems that it is not one fixed person, but different persons who fill the roles of different avatāras in different ages.
It is also explained that Lord Caitanya as an avatāra, that is, the hidden channa-avatāra incarnation, does not really reveal Himself; He protects the devotees from the danger that, if His name were explicitly mentioned, then wherever you went someone would be there saying “I am Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” Someone would begin to pose as Him: “I am Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” But we see that this does not happen, and the reason is that His name is not mentioned, and this is done deliberately. Thus, kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam—then the devotees will understand: “Aha, this is Lord Caitanya.” Everything happens according to Lord Caitanya’s plan. This is a fact: if it had been said that the yuga-avatāra is Lord Caitanya, everyone would be saying, “That’s me!”
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Except for the devotees, one can be sent to other lower planets, one can take birth in a lower species, on this planet. We cannot perceive these things, but all this takes place as part of the supreme arrangement in the universe; everything is planned, and we do not have to worry about it.
Question: [inaudible]
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Now you want me to explain that to you, is that it? I think you will have to ask Rūpa Gosvāmī (KKS laughs). These divisions are also described in the Brahma-saṁhitā. The spiritual world is described there as a kind of yantra: six-sided, then around it four sides, then ten directions. Another place where the divisions are described is the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Goloka is divided into three groups: Goloka, Mathurā, and Dvārakā. So there is no problem; the spiritual world is unlimited, but it can also have various divisions. It can also be perfect, more perfect, and most perfect. There is no problem with that either.
Anything else? Oh, the ārati has already begun. I wanted to finish before it started. All right, so we can continue tomorrow morning. Haribol!
Śrīla Prabhupāda ki! Jaya!
Śrīla Kṛṣṇa–kṣetra Prabhu ki! Jaya!
Gaura premanande!