Krishna reveals His transcendental position about His birth and activities
Text 4.5 and 4.6 talks about ‘His appearance and disappearance’
Text 4.5: My birth and death are not like yours
Text 4.6: I appear in My original transcendental form which is unborn and never dies , I appear by My own will
Texts 4.7 – 4.8 talks about ‘His activities.’ It explains when and why Krishna appears – reasons of descent:
Predominant rise in irreligion
To deliver the devotees (from anxiety to see the Lord)
To re-establish the principles of religion
Text 4.9 – 4.10 talks about the result of understanding the knowledge of ‘transcendental birth’ (Texts 4.5 & 4.6) and ‘activities’ (Texts 4.7 & 4.8)
To be absorbed in Krishna
Freed from attachment, fear and anger
Go back to Krishna (Transcendental abode)
No re-birth in material world
10 are described above under the common theme and their purports are described in their respective Focus of Learning sections below. Only some points of the purports of Texts 4.5 and 4.6, are described under the Summarsized Theme 4
A. SUMMARISED THEME 4A DIFFERENCES BETWEEN KRISHNA AND THE CONDITIONED LIVING ENTITY (4.5 – 4.6 purports) S.No Krishna Conditioned Living entity 1 • Eternal and remembers past, present and • Eternal but forgets future (Acyuta: never forgets – infallible) 2 • Remembers all births because body does • Forgets because body changes and not change or deteriorate (Avyayam) deteriorates 3 • Appears by own will • Forced to appear by karma 4 • Body is transcendental • Body is material 5 • No difference between body and self • The soul acquires an external body (gross (Adwaita) and subtle)
aPeculiarity of Lord’s birth
Lord appears like an ordinary person
But remembers many many past births
Common man cannot remember past few hours, therefore no-one can claim to be God
bLord has many incarnations but He is original
Ref. Vedas – Analogy: Lord is like the Vaidurya stone which changes color but still remains one (Lord manifests so many innumerable forms)
Ref. Brahma-Samhita 5.33; 5.39
cQualification to understand these multi-forms — and example of such a qualified person
Only by pure unalloyed devotion and not by simple study of the Vedas, can one understand
e.g. Arjuna incarnates as one of the associate devotees in all incarnations
dDifference between ‘devotee forgetting the nature of Lord’ and ‘demon not understanding’
Devotee may forget but by His divine grace, one immediately understands the infallible nature of the Lord
Non-devotee never understands
eLiving entity can never equal the Lord (4.5)
Lord is Achyuta (Infallible) – Never forgets Himself and His previous births even in material contact
Lord is Advaita – There is no distinction between His body and Self, therefore He does not change His spiritual body and never forgets His past births
Living entity, however great, spiritually liberated or materially great, can never equal the Lord, e.g. Arjuna
Materially – He is famous as ‘Parantapa’ (Subduer of enemies)
Spiritually – is one of the liberated associates
f‘Atma-maya’ (4.6) — means
Lord descends by ‘internal potency’ and not by ‘external potency’
Lord’s body and intelligence never deteriorates (‘avyayam’) and is never contaminated by material nature (thus it defeats Mayavada teaching)
Prakriti means nature or ‘svarupa’ (own form)
Analogy: His appearance and disappearance are likes the sun’s rising and setting
He is always the “Lord of all living entities” – evident by wonderful and superhuman acts on Earth
‘Atma-maya’ also means that Lord descends by ‘causeless mercy’ so that we can concentrate on His form as He is and not on ‘Mental concoctions and imaginations’
Ref. Amara-kosa dictionary FOCUS OF LEARNING: PURPORT 4.7
aHow the Lord incarnates — By His internal potency – This is indicated by the word ‘Srjami’
Meaning of ‘Srjami’ – Lord is not created or born but “manifests” as per free will
‘Srjami’ is mentioned as “manifests” because Text 4.6 refutes the Lord being born or created, by calling Him as ‘aja’
bWhen does the Lord incarnate — Usual schedule of Lord’s appearance
End of Dvapara-yuga of 28th millennium of seventh Manu of a day of Brahma
But no obligation to rule
cFor what purpose does the Lord decend — Lord comes to establish “principles of dharma”
What are the ‘principles of dharma’ – Direct orders of Supreme Personality of Godhead
Ref. SB 6.3.19 “Dharmam tu…”
What is ‘Highest dharma’ – Surrender unto Him only
dCertain facts about ‘Avatara’
Mission: Comes with mission, e.g. Lord Buddha came to establish Vedic principles of ‘Non- violence’
Sanctioned: Mentioned in scriptures – criteria to accept
Place: Can appear anywhere, not only on Indian soil
Message: Speaks as per audience, e.g. higher and lower mathematics
To lead people to God-consciousness,
Obedience to the principles of religion
eBhagavad-gita is for highly advanced people, e.g. Arjuna (higher principles of religion begin with Varna-asrama)
Focus of learning: Purport 4.8
aDefinition of Sadhu — A man in Krishna consciousness, apparently may be irreligious but if he is wholly and fully Krishna conscious, he is a sadhu
bDefinition of ‘Duskrtam’ — Does not care for Krishna consciousness
cPrime purpose of any Avatara
To appease His unalloyed devotees e.g. Prahlada Maharaja and Devaki
Otherwise the athiests can be dealt with by the Lord’s agents
dRef. Caitanya-caritamrta on (Principles of Incarnation)
The avatara, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for material manifestation
And the particular form of the Personality of Godhead who descends is called an incarnation, or avatara
Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. When they descend to the material creation, they assume the name avatara
eWhy specifically does Lord Krishna descend (Prime purpose) — To mitigate anxieties of pure devotees who are anxious to see His Vrindavana pastimes
FOCUS OF LEARNING — PURPORT 4.8 continued…
fWho is the ‘Avatara’ for Kali-yuga — Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
How does he spread religion and deliver miscreants – Propogated Sankirtan Movement throughout India
Sastric proof – This Avatara is mentioned secretly and not directly in Upanisads, Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam
He does not kill but delivers by causeless mercy
Predicts the broadcast of Sankirtana movement all over the world FOCUS OF LEARNING: PURPORT 4.9*
aLiberation of living entity from material bondage is not very easy — Two paths are possible:
Path of impersonalism and yoga
bPath of Impersonalists and yogis
Endeavor – Not very easy - many, many births
Goal – Only partial success, brahmajyoti
Safety – Risk of fall-down
cPath of Devotees in Krishna consciousness
Endeavor – Very easy, one has to simply understand the transcendental nature of Lord’s birth and activities (4.9)
Goal – Abode of Krishna – Thus complete success is assured
Safety – Lord protects from falldown again into the material world
dWho can attain ‘Perfection of liberation’
A faithful devotee, who accepts Krishna’s protection with faith
One who accepts Krishna as Supreme Personality of Godhead
He has many transcendental forms
These forms have relations with unalloyed devotees
One who does not waste time in philosophical speculations
Ref. Brahma Samhita, Vedas, Svetasvatara Upanisad (study purport)
eFate of other processes like empiric philosophers and puffed-up mundane scholars
May get important roles in