Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 8.5.46
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesRecognize Incarnations Through Scripture and Activities
“O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, by Your sweet will You appear in various incarnations, millennium after millennium, and act wonderfully, performing uncommon activities that would be impossible for us.”
What the purport teaches
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in different incarnations by His own sweet will. His appearances are facts, not imagination.
- The Lord’s forms are innumerable, like the waves of the sea. Yet someone’s claim to be an incarnation is not enough; it must agree with the descriptions in the śāstras.
- An incarnation’s wonderful activities are proof of His identity. Devotees are eager to see the genuine Lord, who appears and disappears by His own will.
Try this today
Choose one incarnation named in this purport and reread the teaching that His appearance depends on the Lord’s sweet will.
Ask yourself
Why is scriptural guidance important when considering a claim that someone is an incarnation?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.