तदवरोधायने मेरुदेव्यमं धर्मान्दर्शयितुकामो वातरशनानां श्रमणानामृषीणामू
र्ध्वमन्थिनां शुक्लया तनुवावततर ॥२०॥
barhiá¹£i tasminn eva viṣṇudatta bhagavÄn paramará¹£ibhiḥ prasÄdito nÄbheḥ priya-cikÄ«rá¹£ayÄ tad-avarodhÄyane merudevyÄá¹ dharmÄn darÅ›ayitu-kÄmo vÄta-raÅ›anÄnÄá¹ Å›ramaṇÄnÄm ṛṣīṇÄm Å«rdhva-manthinÄá¹ Å›uklayÄ tanuvÄvatatÄra
barhiá¹£i - in the arena of sacrifice; tasmin - that; eva - in this way; viṣṇu-datta - O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; parama-ṛṣibhiḥ - by the great ṛṣis; prasÄditaḥ - being pleased; nÄbheḥ priya-cikÄ«rá¹£ayÄ - to please King NÄbhi; tat-avarodhÄyane - in his wife; merudevyÄm - MerudevÄ«; dharmÄn - the principles of religion; darÅ›ayitu-kÄmaḥ - desiring to exhibit how to perform; vÄta-raÅ›anÄnÄm - of the sannyÄsÄ«s (who have almost no cloth); Å›ramaṇÄnÄm - of the vÄnaprasthas; ṛṣīṇÄm - of the great sages; Å«rdhva-manthinÄm - of the brahmacÄrÄ«s; Å›uklayÄ tanuvÄ - in His original spiritual form, which is above the modes of material nature; avatatÄra - appeared as an incarnation.
O Viṣṇudatta, ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was pleased by the great sages at that sacrifice. Consequently the Lord decided to personally exhibit the method of executing religious principles [as observed by brahmacÄrÄ«s, sannyÄsÄ«s, vÄnaprasthas and gá¹›hasthas engaged in rituals] and also satisfy MahÄrÄja NÄbhi’s desire. Consequently He appeared as the son of MerudevÄ« in His original spiritual form, which is above the modes of material nature.
When the Supreme Lord appears or descends as an incarnation within this material world, He does not accept a body made of the three modes of material nature (sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa). MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers say that the impersonal God appears in this material world by accepting a body in the sattva-guṇa. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« states that the word Å›ukla means “consisting of Å›uddha-sattva.†Lord Viṣṇu descends in His Å›uddha-sattva form. Åšuddha-sattva refers to the sattva-guṇa which is never contaminated. In this material world, even the mode of goodness (sattva-guṇa) is contaminated by tinges of rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. When sattva-guṇa is never contaminated by rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, it is called Å›uddha-sattva. Sattvaá¹ viÅ›uddhaá¹ vasudeva-Å›abditam (BhÄg. 4.3.23). That is the platform of vasudeva, whereby the Supreme Personality of Godhead, VÄsudeva, can be experienced. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.7) ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa Himself says:
yadÄ yadÄ hi dharmasya
glÄnir bhavati bhÄrata
abhyutthÄnam adharmasya
tadÄtmÄnaá¹ sá¹›jÄmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.â€
Unlike ordinary living entities, the Supreme Lord is not forced by the modes of material nature to appear. He appears dharmÄn darÅ›ayitu-kÄma — to show how to execute the functions of a human being. The word dharma is meant for human beings and is never used in connection with beings inferior to human beings, such as animals. Unfortunately, without being guided by the Supreme Lord, human beings sometimes manufacture a process of dharma by concoction. Actually dharma cannot be made by man. Dharmaá¹ tu sÄká¹£Äd bhagavat-praṇītam. (BhÄg. 6.3.19) Dharma is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as the law is given by the state government. Man-made dharma has no meaning. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam refers to man-made dharma as kaitava-dharma, cheating religion. The Supreme Lord sends an avatÄra (incarnation) to teach human society the proper way to execute religious principles. Such religious principles are bhakti-mÄrga. As the Supreme Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ: sarva-dharmÄn parityajya mÄm ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja. The son of MahÄrÄja NÄbhi, Ṛṣabhadeva, appeared on this earth to preach the principles of religion. That will be explained in the Fifth Chapter of this Fifth Canto.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Third Chapter, of the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, entitled “Ṛṣabhadeva’s Appearance in the Womb of MerudevÄ«, the wife of King NÄbhi.â€
