Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

bhavayaty eṣa sattvena
lokan vai loka-bhavanaḥ;
lilavataranurato
deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu
[SB 1.2.34]

Translation: "Thus, the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men and lower animals, and in His play He assumes the roles of incarnations to reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness."

Prabhupada:

bhavayaty eṣa sattvena
lokan vai loka-bhavanaḥ;
lilavataranurato
deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu
[SB 1.2.34]

So the Supreme Personality of Godhead, lilavatara, incarnates in many forms, not only in the human society, but in the demigod society, or lower than human society, the animal society also, tree society. Because as we have forgotten our relationship with Krṣṇa, He's always anxious to get us back to home, back to Godhead. So He incarnates Himself in so many forms. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33]. He has got ananta-rupa, unlimited forms. Advaitam acyutam anadim. But all those forms are in essence one. Advaita. That is not different. Just like ramadi-murtiṣu. The Lord appears as Lord Ramacandra, or as Lord Krṣṇa, or as Lord Varaha. They are not different. In the material sense a varaha, a hog, is different from the man. Or the man is..., one man is different from another man. But the incarnations of Krṣṇa, they are not different. The same thing. Just like Krṣṇa, when He appeared, He, He's Krṣṇa when He was so-called three months old, and He was Krṣṇa when He was twenty years old. The same Krṣṇa. As we find difference that a..., the same man, when he's three months old, he's different from the twenty years old. When his age is twenty years, he's different from his age when his age is three months.

The modern fashion is that they want to become God by meditation, by advancement of mystic power. But that kind of God is not Krṣṇa. Krṣṇa does not become God; He's God always. Others, they try to become God by mystic power. We have heard so many so-called Gods, that "He attained such perfection of mystic power. Now he has become God." That is also another maya. Nobody can become God. God is God; dog is dog. This is the law of identity. A dog cannot become God, neither God becomes dog. This is Mayavada theory that at the end the Absolute Truth is void, or impersonal. The Buddhist theory is void and the Mayavadi theory is impersonal. But our philosophy is that God is originally the Supreme Person. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate [SB 1.2.11]. We have discussed this point many times.

Now, here it is said: lilavataranurato deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu [SB 1.2.34]. God is always anxious to get us back, back to home, back to Godhead. So apart from His incarnations amongst the deva, demigods... Just like Upendra, Lord Vamanadeva, He appeared amongst the demigods. There are so many other incarnations, demigods. Tiryaṅ-naradi, tiryak. God appeared as incarnation of boar, incarnation of horse, incarnation of tortoise. Kesava dhrta-kurma-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. Kurma sarira. Kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. There are so many incarnations. Kesava dhrta-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare. Kesava dhrta-vamana-rupa jaya jagadisa hare. So He has got innumerable incarnations. As I have told you several times, just like the waves of the river, one cannot count, similarly, nobody can count how many incarnations are coming always, incessantly, one after another. So lilavataranurato deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu. And amongst the human beings, we know Lord Ramacandra came, Lord Krṣṇa came, Ṛṣabhadeva came and Lord Caitanya came.

So Krṣṇa is always trying... Because He's the father. Krṣṇa says, ahaṁ bija-pradaḥ; pita, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya [Bg. 14.4]. Sarva-yoniṣu. There are different species of life, forms of life, because we wanted to enjoy this material world, to utilize the resources of material world. That is our activity, even at the present moment. Always. Everyone is busy how to exploit the resources of material nature. That is advancement of civilization. Advancement of civilization means how to exploit the material resources. But they do not know, the foolish people do not know that is not advancement. That is entanglement. That is not advancement. This knowledge, they are lacking. They do not know what is advancement. Advancement means advancement in spiritual life. That is advancement. We are spirit. In essence we are spirit soul. We have been encaged within this body. Therefore advancement means how to get out of this entanglement of repetition of birth and death.

When Visvamitra Muni went to Maharaja Dasaratha to ask for his two sons, Ramacandra and Lakṣmaṇaji, to take them to the Daṇḍakaraṇya to kill the demon, so at that time, Maharaja Dasaratha welcomed Visvamitra, Visvamitra Muni with these words: aihiṣṭaṁ yad punar-janma-jayaya, yatraṁ punar-janma-jayaya(?). Aihiṣṭam. Just like if I meet my friend... Suppose he's a businessman. So I'll ask you how your business going on nicely. Similarly, Visvamitra Muni, he was not a businessman. He was a great saint, and he was living in the forest. So what was the purpose? The purpose was aihiṣṭaṁ yat tat punar-janma-jayaya. As you are trying to conquer over the repetition of birth, punar-janma-jayaya... The people do not know, at the present moment, that the business is to conquer over the repetition of birth and death, punar-janma-jayaya. They do not know that this can be stopped. Neither they have any idea that there is rebirth. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. Your life is not finished. Your life is not finished simply by finishing... When the, this body is ended, it is not that you are also ended. This knowledge, there is nowhere throughout the whole world. There are so many big, big universities. That is our lamentation, that what is this education? They do not know how to direct education. In the sastra it is said that your activities should be conducted in such a way that Krṣṇa becomes satisfied. Hari-toṣaṇam. But they do not know what is Krṣṇa, what is Hari. And how to satisfy Him, that is another question.

So at the present moment, the whole civilization is a set of rascals only. That's all. There is no education. They do not know. And because they do not know, Krṣṇa comes. Just to make these rascals, to inform that "I am," Krṣṇa says, "I am," aham adir hi devanam [Bg 10.2]. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ; sarvaṁ pravartate [Bg. 10.8]. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekaṁ saraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji. Canvassing. Canvassing, "My dear sons, why you are rotting in this material world? Please come. You are My beloved son. I do not tolerate, or I do not, I cannot see that you are suffering." This is Krṣṇa's business. He's more kind. He's more anxious to get us back. Therefore He comes personally. Therefore He comes personally. Then again, when we mistake Him... Krṣṇa said, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekaṁ saraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. The rascals, they thought, "Oh, why He's demanding so much? Why He's demanding so much? This is sophistry. Why shall I surrender to You?" That is our position. Krṣṇa says that "You surrender. I take charge of you." Ma sucaḥ;, ahaṁ tvaṁ sarva-papebhyo mokṣayiṣyami. "I shall give you relief from all difficulties." "No, why shall I?" Just see how much rascals we are. And they are going on as civilized men. All fools, rascals and rogues and thieves. That's all. This is the position. All fools and rascals and rogues. Ajanantaḥ;. Ajanantaḥ; means rascals, one who does not know. Ajanantaḥ;.

Therefore Vyasadeva made this sastra, this Srimad-Bhagavatam, ajanantaḥ;, for these rascals, one who does not know the aim of life. Anartha upasamaṁ sakṣad bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje. We are meeting with so many problems of life. These are called anarthas, unnecessary. I am spirit soul; you are spirit soul. We are as good as God. Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). Our real position is ananda. Sac-cid-ananda. Why we are meeting so many problems? This is due to this body. This is due to this body. Therefore the real culture is, real education is, how to stop this repetition of body. But they do not know. Anandamayo 'bhyasat. We are part and parcel of Krṣṇa. He is fully joyful. You'll see always Krṣṇa joyful. When He's killing an animal, he's laughing. He's joyful. You have seen Krṣṇa's picture. It is not that it's a problem. You have seen. Krṣṇa is killing that Kesi demon, a horse, big horse, just like a child's play. Krṣṇa is, I mean to say, fighting with that bull. What is the name of that bull?

Pradyumna: Ariṣṭasura.

Prabhupada: Ariṣṭasura. The attacking with his horns. Krṣṇa is just like playing with a toy. That is Krṣṇa. So Krṣṇa is always anxious to give us enlightenment, that "This is not your life. Why you are rotting in this material world? Come back." In many ways... Deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu. He's coming not only in the human society, but in the animal society also. He's coming in all kinds of... There are so many societies, aquatics, jalaja nava-lakṣaṇi sthavara lakṣa-viṁsati krmayo rudra-saṅk... There are so many living entities, 8,400,000, and they have got their own society. As we know, birds of the same feather flock together. So that is called society. That is there in the... You'll find all the ants are together. All the birds are together. All the beasts are together. So we form this animal society or the human society. That is not a new thing. That is a... You'll see all the crows, they will flock together. The crows will not mix with the pigeons. The pigeons will not mix with the crows. That is natural.

So there are so many societies. Deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu [SB 1.2.34]. And in every society, there is incarnation of God according to their position. According to their language, according to their problems, there is incarnation. We do not see other incarnations, but we can see the human form of incarnation. Ramadi-murtiṣu kala-niyamena tiṣṭhan [Bs. 5.39]. But from the sastra we can understand that there are incarnations amongst the lower animals, beasts, birds and everywhere. The purpose is to reclaim the fallen souls. So not only He incarnates, but He sends His devotee, He comes as devotee. Just like Krṣṇa was misunderstood because Krṣṇa demanded that "You surrender unto Me." So we misunderstood because we are muḍhas. The muḍhas, they do not surrender. Krṣṇa says they are, they are very good scholars of Bhagavad-gita. But they cannot understand these simple things. Krṣṇa is demanding, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekaṁ saraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66], but he'll not do that. And he is a scholar of Bhagavad-gita. The simple truth, he cannot understand. Neither he can follow. If I am actually follower of Bhagavad-gita, then Krṣṇa says that "You surrender unto Me," then, if I am actually follower, I shall surrender unto Him. That is my business. But no. I shall not surrender. "I am Krṣṇa. Why shall I surrender to You?"

Where does he get this information that he has become Krṣṇa? Where is that in the Bhagavad-gita? But they are preaching Bhagavad-gita reading means "I have become Krṣṇa." Where this nonsense ideas they get? I do not know. But we can take them what he is. We can take... As soon as he does not surrender, then I take him, we take him in three, four classes:

na maṁ duṣkrtino muḍhaḥ;
prapadyante naradhamaḥ;
mayayapahrta-jñana
asuraṁ bhavam asritaḥ;
[Bg. 7.15]

Because I see this rascal has not surrendered to Krṣṇa, he must be one of these groups. What is that? Duṣkrtina, in the group of sinful life. Duṣkrtina. Muḍhaḥ;, in the groups of rascals. Naradhamaḥ;, in the groups of the lowest of the mankind. "No, they are Ph.D.s." Mayaya apahrta-jñanaḥ;. They may be Ph.D.s, but he's a rascal because maya has taken his real knowledge. He does not know Krṣṇa. What is the value of his knowledge? Mayaya apahrta-jñana asuraṁ bhavam asritaḥ;. Why this is so? Now, asuraṁ bhava, their only business is to discard, kill God. Just like asuras. Just like Kaṁsa. His only business was how to kill Krṣṇa. Asuraṁ bhavam asritaḥ;.

So those who are asuras or the naradhamas, their only business is to, how to kill Krṣṇa. Just like the great scholar is saying, when Krṣṇa says that man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji maṁ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65], he's commenting, because he's a great scholar, "Not to Krṣṇa." Just see. "Not to Krṣṇa." This is going on. They are thinking there is something more exalted than Krṣṇa. But Krṣṇa says, mattaḥ; parataraṁ nanyat: [Bg. 7.7] "There is nothing more. I am the Supreme." So I do not know what kind of scholars they are. They are reading Bhagavad-gita and decrying Krṣṇa. This is going on. Therefore our movement is Bhagavad-gita as it is. We don't follow these rascals, duṣkrtina, muḍhaḥ;, naradhamaḥ;. We don't follow them. We follow Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We follow Ramanujacarya. We follow Madhvacarya. We follow the great authorities-Vyasadeva. We follow Narada, Asita, Vyasa. Because that is the only way to understand. Mahajano yena gataḥ; sa panthaḥ; [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. You cannot understand Krṣṇa. You cannot understand His incarnation. You have to follow the footprints. Then you'll understand who is avatara. Otherwise, instead of Krṣṇa, you will accept another demi-krṣṇa. Somebody will say, "I was Krṣṇa." "Oh, he's avatara." And what is the proof that he was Krṣṇa? Why you are so fool? If somebody says... If I say that "I was Krṣṇa," so only the fools will take me that I was Krṣṇa, now I am dog. It is not like that.

We have to follow the mahajano yena gataḥ;. If we want... Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was discussing with Sanatana Gosvami, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu informed according to sastra:

krṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣakrṣṇaṁ
saṅgopaṅgastra-parṣadam
yajñaiḥ; saṅkirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ;
[SB 11.5.32]

So these symptoms are Caitanya Mahaprabhu's symptoms. So when Sanatana Gosvami was talking Caitanya Mahaprabhu... He was a politician, minister. So he simply inquired from Caitanya Mahaprabhu: "Shall I take it that these symptoms, as we find in the sastra, is the incarnation of this Kali-yuga?" Caitanya Mahaprabhu understood that "He's catching Me, he's trying to catching Me." So He immediately said, "Oh, don't bother about that thing. We shall talk..." Like that. Even Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is actually Krṣṇa, He avoided to be addressed as Krṣṇa. And these rascals, false, they are claiming "Krṣṇa." Just see. Krṣṇa Himself, in Vrndavana... In Vrndavana, when Krṣṇa, Caitanya Mahaprabhu was present, many devotees used to come and address Him, "My Lord, You are Krṣṇa." Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to block His ears: "Don't say like that. Don't say. It is a great offense to address a man as Viṣṇu, as Krṣṇa." He taught us like that. And these rascals, they're declaring: "I am God. I am Krṣṇa." "I am God, I am Krṣṇa."

So only the rascals will follow such rascals. A man is known by his company. God has become so cheap. God, they, there are incarnation, there are hundreds and thousands of incarnation, but to accept that incarnation, we have to follow the direction of the sastra. The sastra, in every incarnation is described there, His symptoms are described there. When Ramacandra is described, He is... What did He do, that is also given there. Even Lord Buddha's activities are there in the sastra—He's accepted an incarnation. Kikaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati. Lord Krṣṇa's, Lord Balarama. Everything is described there—Lord Caitanya. So we have to accept one incarnation with reference to the description given in the sastra. Not that any rascal comes and he becomes incarnation and we accept. No. There are incarnations. That is a fact. As it is said: deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu, hundreds and thousands of incarnations. But if we are intelligent, if we are actually well versed in the sastras, then we should corroborate. Not that anyone comes to become incarnation, we have to accept. No. That is not our business. Sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya, cittete kariya aikya. We have to test sadhu, whether sadhus are accepting. Just like Krṣṇa. Krṣṇa is accepted by all the sadhus as Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even Saṅkaracarya, who's an impersonalist, he says, sa bhagavan svayaṁ krṣṇaḥ; devaki-nandanaḥ;. He accepts. And what to speak of other Vaiṣṇava acaryas, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya. They all accept. Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepts. Formerly, Vyasadeva accepted. Narada accepted. Everyone... Vedas. The other day, when we met Gaṅgesvarananda, he quoted so many Vedic passages Krṣṇa, about Krṣṇa. Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So in the Vedas, in the Puraṇas, in the Upaniṣads, and confirmed by great sages, saintly persons, everyone accepts Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then why these rascals cannot find out God? We are giving the name of God, the address of God, the father, God's father's name also, Nanda-nandana, Devaki-nandana. So where is the difficulty to find out? There is no difficulty. But the rascals will not accept. They will continue their rascaldom. That is the difficulty. Otherwise, it is not at all difficulty to find out where is God. God is neither dead, nor God has become void or impersonal. He's person, dvi-bhuja-muralidhara, Krṣṇa, playing on His flute and jamuna-tira-vana-cari. He is existent always. Adyapi kare lilaya gaura-raya, kona kona bhagyavan dekhibare paya(?). Krṣṇa is always existing. Krṣṇa's incarnations are always existing, before us. But if we are fortunate enough, we can see; otherwise not.

athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-
prasada-lesanugrhita eva hi
janati tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
na canya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan
[SB 10.14.29]

You cannot manufacture the incarnation of God. You cannot see the incarnation of God, provided if you are not blessed by God. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ;. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ; [Brs. 1.2.234].

So the fact is that there are innumerable incarnations of God. As it is said here: lilavataranurato deva-tiryaṅ-naradiṣu. And we have to accept Him as incarnation not by whims, not by public votes, but... Just like it has become a fashion. If a man is voted, without reference to the sastra, if some rascals vote that "Here is incarnation of God," we accept? No, we have to accept with reference to sastra, symptoms given in the sastra, and then we shall... Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu we accept as incarnation of Krṣṇa. It is confirmed in the sastra. In the Upaniṣads, in Mahabharata, in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Everywhere, there are... If you read Caitanya-caritamrta, there are so many quotations from the sastras. Then we accept Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are some men here in Vrndavana, they do not accept Caitanya Mahaprabhu as incarnation of Krṣṇa, but there are... They'll not see... They'll not see to the evidences in the sastra. They'll blind. They'll make themselves blind.

So any incarnation... We should be very careful, that, although there are many thousands and thousands of incarnation of Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, still, when we have to accept somebody or something as incarnation, we must refer to the sastra. Then it will be right. Otherwise, we shall be misled. That is being done. So many. In the street, in the lanes, there are so many gods. And especially the god, all the gods are going to Western countries. Especially. Because the Western people are now inclined, especially after this Krṣṇa consciousness movement, they are, they are... They were prepared. They were hankering after this God consciousness, because they are fed up with this all nonsense civilization. These young boys and girls, they are fed up. They do not want to live like their fathers or grandfathers. They want something better.

So therefore this Krṣṇa consciousness movement is becoming successful. They were looking after such cultural movement, but taking advantage, there are, so many rascals are going and posing himself as incarnation of God. People can be misled. Even in India, there are so many men misled with the incarnation of God. But incarnation of God is not so cheap. Don't make, don't accept cheap incarnation of God. Try to understand with reference to the sastras, with reference to the authority. Then it will be all right. Otherwise, it will be misleading. Don't be misled. That is our request.

Thank you very much. Hare Krṣṇa