Source
Texts:
Drumila
Explains the Incarnations of Godhead to King
Nimi
Text
1
The honorable
king [Nimi] said: 'Please tell us of the activities of
each of these appearances of His own assumed, by which the Lord
performed, is performing and will perform in this world
[see also 2.7].
King
Nimi said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead descends into
the material world by His internal potency and according to
His own desire. Therefore, please tell us about the various
pastimes Lord Hari has performed in the past, is performing
now and will perform in this world in the future in His
various incarnations.
Text
2
S'rî
Drumila said: 'Indeed, he who tries to enumerate the unlimited
transcendental qualities of the Unlimited One is certainly a
person with the intelligence of a child; somehow may one in
time count the particles of dust of the earth, but not so the
qualities of the Reservoir of all Potencies [see also
10.14:
7,
10.51:
38].
S'rî
Drumila said - Anyone trying to enumerate or describe fully
the unlimited qualities of the unlimited Supreme Lord has
the intelligence of a foolish child. Even if a great genius
could somehow or other, after a time-consuming endeavor,
count all the particles of dust on the surface of the earth,
such a genius could never count the attractive qualities of
the Personality of Godhead, who is the reservoir of all
potencies.
Text
3
When
the Original Personality of Godhead Nârâyana
entered into His plenary expansion, the from Himself generated
body of the universe created out of the five material elements,
became He thus known as the purusha
[see also 1.3:1].
When
the primeval Lord Nârâyana created His universal
body out of the five elements produced from Himself and then
entered within that universal body by His own plenary
portion, He thus became known as the Purusha.
Text
4
Within
this elaborate three-world body of His is He to the embodied
beings, of His senses being both the senses of action and
perception, by His nature being the spiritual knowledge and
from His tradition being the strength and ability, the prime
mover [the original doer ànd non-doer] who by
the goodness and the other qualities is of creation,
destruction and maintenance [see B.G. 3:
27,
13:
30
and S.B. 6:17:
19,
3:
26: 7,
3:
27: 2,
3.32:
12-15,
10.46:
41,
10.83:
3].
Within
His body are elaborately arranged the three planetary
systems of this universe. His transcendental senses generate
the knowledge-acquiring and active senses of all embodied
beings. His consciousness generates conditioned knowledge,
and His powerful breathing produces the bodily strength,
sensory power and conditioned activities of the embodied
souls. He is the prime mover, through the agency of the
material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. And thus
the universe is created, maintained and annihilated.
Text
5
In the
beginning became He in the passion of creating this universe
the One commanding the hundreds [of sages: Lord
Brahmâ]; in the maintenance as the protector of
dharma of the twice-born He became Vishnu, the Lord of
Sacrifice and for the annihilation in the mode of ignorance He
became Rudra [Lord S'iva]; thus is He the Original
Person always of creation, maintenance and destruction among
the created beings [see also 2.10:
41-46,
4.29:
79,
4.30:
23].
In
the beginning, the original Supreme Personality manifested
the form of Brahmâ through the material mode of
passion in order to create this universe. The Lord
manifested His form as Vishnu, the Lord of sacrifice and
protector of the twice-born brâhmanas and their
religious duties, to maintain the universe. And when the
universe is to be annihilated the same Supreme Lord employs
the material mode of ignorance and manifests the form of
Rudra The created living beings are thus always subject to
the forces of creation, maintenance and destruction.
Text
6
As
Nara-Nârâyana, the best of sages perfectly
peaceful, was He born from Mûrti the daughter of Daksha
and wife of Dharma [*];
characterized by the cessation of all material work did, even
living today, He, whose feet are being served by the greatest
of sages, speak about and perform the work [actually]
to be done [see B.G. 9:
27
and also 2.7:
6,
4.1:
49: 57,
5.19:
9].
Nara-Nârâyana
Rishi, who is perfectly peaceful and is the best of sages,
was born as the son of Dharma and his wife Mûrti, the
daughter of Daksha. Nara-Nârâyana Rishi taught
the devotional service of the Lord, by which material work
ceases, and He Himself perfectly practiced this knowledge.
He is living even today, His lotus feet served by the
greatest of saintly persons.
Text
7
Lord Indra
afraid thinking 'He wants to usurp my kingdom', engaged Cupid
who going to Badarikâs'rama with his associates the
Apsaras, with his arrows, the glances of the women and the
gentle breeze of spring, not knowing His greatness, attempted
to pierce Him.
King
Indra became fearful, thinking that
Nara-Nârâyana Rishi would become very powerful
by His severe penances and seize Indra's heavenly kingdom.
Thus Indra, not knowing the transcendental glories of the
incarnation of the Lord, sent Cupid and his associates to
the Lord's residence in Badarikâs'rama. As the
charming breezes of spring created a most sensuous
atmosphere, Cupid himself attacked the Lord with arrows in
the form of the irresistible glances of beautiful
women.
Text
8
The Original
Godhead understanding the offense committed by Indra, spoke
free from pride laughingly to those who were trembling: 'Please
fear not, o mighty Madana [Lord of Love], o god of the
wind and wives of the demigods, please accept these gifts from
Us, do not leave this âs'rama empty'.
The
primeval Lord, understanding the offense committed by Indra,
did not become proud. Instead He spoke laughingly as follows
to Cupid and his followers, who were trembling before Him -
'Do not fear, O mighty Madana, O wind-god and wives of the
demigods. Rather, please accept these gifts I am offering
you and kindly sanctify My âs'rama by your
presence.'
Text
9
O god of men
[Nimi], when the Giver of Fearlessness had spoken this
way, bowed the gods ashamed to Him, begging with their heads
down for compassion saying: 'O Almighty, this is not surprising
for You, the Supreme One Unchanging to whose feet in great
numbers bow down the ones sober and self-satisfied [see
also 1.7:
10].
My
dear King Nimi, when Nara-Nârâyana Rishi thus
spoke, eradicating the fear of the demigods, they bowed
their heads with shame and addressed the Lord as follows, to
invoke His compassion - Our dear Lord, You are always
transcendental, beyond the reach of illusion, and therefore
You are forever changeless. Your causeless compassion toward
us, despite our great offense, is not at all unusual in You,
since innumerable great sages who are self-satisfied and
free from anger and false pride bow down humbly at Your
lotus feet.
Text
10
To
those serving You, who going beyond their own abode try to
reach Yours, there are many disturbances created by the godly,
but the other devotee, who in sacrifices bringing offers gives
them their shares, there is no such thing as he with You, the
Protector, places his foot over the head of the disturbance
[see also 9.4:
9
and 10.2:
33].
The
demigods place many obstacles on the path of those who
worship You to transcend the temporary abodes of the
demigods and reach Your supreme abode. Those who offer the
demigods their assigned shares in sacrificial performances
encounter no such obstacles. But because You are the direct
protector of Your devotee, he is able to step over the head
of whatever obstacle the demigods place before him.
Text
11
Some persons
having crossed the limitless oceans of ourselves of the lust of
the tongue and the genitals, the winds, the hunger and the
thirst to the three qualities of time [summer winter and
spring-autumn], do, fallen under the sway of an anger
leading nowhere having drown in the hoofprint of a cow, caste
aside their difficult to execute penances as being without any
good purpose [see B.G. 17:
5-6: also
6.1:
16 and compare
5.8:
23 and
10.12:
12].'
Some
men practice severe penances to cross beyond our influence,
which is like an immeasurable ocean with endless waves of
hunger, thirst, heat, cold and the other conditions brought
about by the passing of time, such as the sensuous wind and
the urges of the tongue and sex organs. Nevertheless,
although crossing this ocean of sense gratification through
severe penances, such persons foolishly drown in a cow's
hoofprint when conquered by useless anger. Thus they exhaust
the benefit of their difficult austerities in vain.
Text
12
With them thus
offering praise manifested He before their eyes [a host
of] women most wonderful in appearance, who all nicely
decorated performed reverential service to the Almighty One
[see also 2.7:
6].
While
the demigods were thus praising the Supreme Lord, the
all-powerful Lord suddenly manifested before their eyes many
women, who were astonishingly gorgeous, decorated with fine
clothes and ornaments, and all faithfully engaging in the
Lord's service.
Text
13
They,
the followers of the godly, seeing these women were, bewildered
by the magnificence of the women that were as beautiful as the
goddess of fortune, defeated in their opulence.
When
the followers of the demigods gazed upon the fascinating
mystic beauty of the women created by
Nara-Nârâyana Rishi and smelled the fragrance of
their bodies, the minds of these followers became
bewildered. Indeed, upon seeing the beauty and magnificence
of such women, the representatives of the demigods were
completely diminished in their own opulence.
Text
14
To
them who had bowed down said the Lord of All Lords with a faint
smile: 'Please choose any of these ladies suitable as an
ornament of heaven.'
The
Supreme Lord of lords then smiled slightly and told the
representatives of heaven, who were bowing down before Him,
'Please choose one of these women, whomever you find
suitable for you. She will become the ornament of the
heavenly planets.'
Text
15
Vibrating 'om'
to that, offered those servants of the demigods to Him their
obeisances and returned they, placing Urvas'î, the best
of the Apsaras,
in front of them, to heaven.
Vibrating
the sacred syllable om, the servants of the demigods
selected Urvas'î, the best of the Apsaras. Placing her
in front of them out of respect, they returned to the
heavenly planets.
Text
16
Bowing
down to Lord Indra in his assembly told they him, as the
residents of the three heavens were listening, about the
strength of Nârâyana, at which he fell in
perplexity.
The
servants of the demigods reached the assembly of Indra, and
thus, while all the residents of the three heavens listened,
they explained to Indra the supreme power of
Nârâyana. When Indra heard of
Nara-Nârâyana Rishi and became aware of his
offense, he was both frightened and astonished.
Text
17
Acyuta
in the form of the [transcendental] swan speaking about
selfrealization, Dattâtreya,
the Kumâras
and Rishabha,
is the father, the Supreme Lord Vishnu who for the welfare of
all the world by His expansions descends into this
world [B.G.
14:
4];
by Him, the killer of Madhu,
were in his horse-incarnation [Hayagrîva]
the original texts of the Veda's brought back.
The
infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, has
descended into this world by His various partial
incarnations such as Lord Hamsa [the swan],
Dattâtreya, the four Kumâras and our own father,
the mighty Rishabhadeva. By such incarnations, the Lord
teaches the science of self-realization for the benefit of
the whole universe. In His appearance as Hayagrîva He
killed the demon Madhu and thus brought the Vedas back from
the hellish planet Pâtâlaloka.
Text
18
In
His fish-incarnation [Matsya]
were Vaivasvata Manu [Satyavrata],
the planet earth, and the herbs protected; in His
boar-incarnation [Varâha]
delivering the earth from the waters, was de demoniac son
[Hiranyâksha]
of Diti killed; as a tortoise [Kurma]
He held the mountain when the nectar was being churned upon His
back and [as Vishnu] He freed the king of the elephants
[Gajendra]
who surrendered in distress of the crocodile.
In
His appearance as a fish, the Lord protected Satyavrata
Manu, the earth and her valuable herbs. He protected them
from the waters of annihilation. As a boar, the Lord killed
Hiranyâksha, the son of Diti, while delivering the
earth from the universal waters. And as a tortoise, He
lifted Mandara Mountain on His back so that nectar could be
churned from the ocean. The Lord saved the surrendered king
of the elephants, Gajendra, who was suffering terrible
distress from the grips of a crocodile.
Text
19
He delivered
from [a laughing] Indra the ascetic sages [the
Vâlakhilyas]
who offering prayers had fallen [into the water of a cow's
hoofprint]; He delivered Indra from the darkness of having
killed Vritrâsura;
He delivered the wives of the demigods imprisoned in the asura
palace [by Bhaumâsura];
as Nrisimhadeva He killed Hiranyakas'ipu,
the asura-king, in order to bring the saintly devotees
fearlessness.
The
Lord also delivered the tiny ascetic sages called the
Vâlakhilyas when they fell into the water in a cow's
hoofprint and Indra was laughing at them. The Lord then
saved Indra when Indra was covered by darkness due to the
sinful reaction for killing Vritrâsura. When the wives
of the demigods were trapped in the palace of the demons
without any shelter, the Lord saved them. In His incarnation
as Nrisimha, the Lord killed Hiranyakas'ipu, the king of
demons, to free the saintly devotees from fear.
Text
20
For the sake of
the godfearing He killed the daitya leaders in the battle
between the gods and the demons [see 8.10],
by His various appearances [the ams'a-avatâras]
during the reign of each Manu He protects all the worlds and as
Lord Vâmana took He with the excuse of charity the earth
away from Bali
giving her to the sons of Aditi.
The
Supreme Lord regularly takes advantage of the wars between
the demons and demigods to kill the leaders of the demons.
The Lord thus encourages the demigods by protecting the
universe through His various incarnations during the reigns
of each Manu. The Lord also appeared as Vâmana and
took the earth away from Bali Mahârâja on the
plea of begging three steps of land. The Lord then returned
the entire world to the sons of Aditi.
Text
21
As Lord
Paras'urâma ridding the earth of the members of the
warrior class, destroyed the fire of Him descending from
Bhrigu,
twenty-seven times the dynasty of Haihaya;
as the husband of Sîtâ
[Râmacandra]
subduing the ocean killed He Ten-head [Râvana]
along with the soldiers of Lankâ - with recounting the
glories of Him always victorious, is the contamination of the
entire world destroyed.
Lord
Paras'urâma appeared in the family of Bhrigu as a fire
that burned to ashes the dynasty of Haihaya. Thus Lord
Paras'urâma rid the earth of all kshatriyas twenty-one
times. The same Lord appeared as Râmacandra, the
husband of Sîtâdevî, and thus He killed
the ten-headed Râvana, along with all the soldiers of
Lankâ. May that S'rî Râma, whose glories
destroy the contamination of the world, be always
victorious.
Text
22
The Unborn Lord
[as Krishna] taking His birth in the Yadu-dynasty,
will, in order to diminish the burden of the earth, perform
deeds even difficult for the godly; as [the Buddha]
will He by speculative arguments bewilder the ones unfit to
perform the vedic sacrifices and at the end of Kali-yuga will
He [as Lord Kalki] put an end to all the low-class
rulers.
To
diminish the burden of the earth, the unborn Lord will take
birth in the Yadu dynasty and perform feats impossible even
for the demigods. Propounding speculative philosophy, the
Lord, as Buddha, will bewilder the unworthy performers of
Vedic sacrifices. And as Kalki the Lord will kill all the
low-class men posing as rulers at the end of the age of
Kali.
Text
23
Of the so very
glorious Lord of the Living Being [Jagadîs'vara]
described, o mighty-armed one, there are innumerable
appearances and activities just like these.
O
mighty-armed King, there are innumerable appearances and
activities of the Supreme Lord of the universe similar to
those I have already mentioned. In fact, the glories of the
Supreme Lord are unlimited.
*:
According to the Matsya Purâna (3.10), Dharma, the father
of Nara-Nârâyana Rishi, was born from the right
breast of Brahmâ and later married thirteen of the
daughters of Prajâpati Daksha.
