1.3.12 – 1.3.22

1. SrimadBhagavatam 1.3.12 – 1.3.22

2. Based on the teachings ofHis Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder Acharya International Society for Krishna Consciousness

3. Seeking the Blessings of Guru, Gauranga & All the Assembled Vaishnavas

4. ŚrīmadBhāgavatam1.2.4 nārāyaṇaḿnamaskṛtya naraḿ caiva narottamam devīḿsarasvatīḿvyāsaḿ tato jayamudīrayet TRANSLATION Before reciting this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the very means of conquest, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, unto Nara-nārāyaṇaṚṣi, the supermost human being, unto mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, and unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the author.

5. ŚrīmadBhāgavatam 1.2.18 naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaḿbhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavatinaiṣṭhikī TRANSLATION By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

6. Avatars • 1.3.12 – Yajna • 1.3.13 - Rshaba deva • 1.3.14 – Prthu Maharaja • 1.3.15 – Matsya • 1.3.16 – Kurma • 1.3.17 – Danvanthri & MohiniMurti • 1.3.18 – Narasimha • 1.3.19 – Vamana • 1.3.20 – Parasurama • 1.3.21 – Vyasa deva • 1.3.22 – Rama

7. ŚrīmadBhāgavatam1.3.12 tataḥ saptama ākūtyāḿ rucer yajño 'bhyajāyata sa yāmādyaiḥ sura-gaṇair apāt svāyambhuvāntaram TRANSLATION The seventh incarnation was Yajña, the son of PrajāpatiRuci and his wife Ākūti. He controlled the period during the change of the SvāyambhuvaManu and was assisted by demigods such as His son Yama.

8. ŚrīmadBhāgavatam1.3.12 • Important Points from Purport • Who are demigods? Example: Krsna incarnating as “Yajña to occupy the post of “Indra” during Svayambhuva Manu time period. • They are not Supreme but posts • Who can occupy the Demigod posts? Any qualified Living Entity • When no one is qualified then will the post be empty? Lord Incarnates Himself for that speicific duration for that specific function

9. SrilaPrabhupadaUvaca: So you are marking that so many incarnation of God have been described. We are now in the seventh. So there is chronological number, which incarnation, what is His chronological number, what is His father's name, what is His mother's name, what are His activities, how the bodily feature, what is the mission. Everything is described in the sastra. Nowadays any rascal comes, and he says, "I am incarnation." What is your father's name? Whatever it is described? Whether in the sastra? Because incarnation, we cannot accept any rascal as incarnation without proper identification. But it has become a fashion now. Any rascal comes, says, "I am incarnation of God." So where is the mention? Some rascal says, "I was formerly Rama and Krsna." Another rascal accepts, "Oh, you were Rama and Krsna?”

10. So SanatanaGosvami, he was a minister. So to confirm this, he asked CaitanyaMahaprabhu that "How I can accept somebody as incarnation?" So CaitanyaMahaprabhu said that "That is not difficult. Everything is stated in the sastras, and from the evidence of sastra, you can accept who is incarnation." • So our point is that you do not become so foolish and rascal, that any rascal comes and poses himself as God, incarnation of God... You kick on their face. Please consult the sastras whether his name, his father's name, his mother's name, his features of the body, his activities, are corroborating with the sastra. Then accept. Otherwise don't. • REF: Lecture Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.11-12 September 17, 1972, LA Role of ISKCON: Provides Sastra in multi languages for people all over the wold to really understand who is actual incarnation and who is not.

11. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.13 aṣṭame merudevyāḿ tu nābher jāta urukramaḥ darśayan vartma dhīrāṇāḿ sarvāśrama-namaskṛtam TRANSLATION The eighth incarnation was King Ṛṣabha, son of King Nābhi and his wife Merudevī. In this incarnation the Lord showed the path of perfection, which is followed by those who have fully controlled their senses and who are honored by all orders of life.

12. Dhiranam: • Dhira: Gentle / Undisturbed by the senses even there is a cause of disturbance • Example: Haridas Thakur when tested by Prostitute and later by Maya devi herself. He instructed His sons, "My dear boys, this human form of life is not meant for sense enjoyment, which is available in the life of dogs and hogs." It was His instruction. He instructed that human society should be dhira, self-controlled. That is ideal human society. That is Vedic civilization • Adhira: Rogue / Disturbed even by slight agitation (almost all) • Urukramah: • The Lord acts Very Wonderful things – not possible by ordinary humans. • darsayanvartma: to show the real path of life. Maharaja Rsabhadeva, He was king, emperor of the world. So His instruction are there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

13. SarvasramaNamaskrtam: • SannayasaAshrama is honored by all orders of Life ( Brahmacharya, Grahastha, Vanaprastha & Sannyasa) Role of ISKCON: • Gives chance to Adhiras to become Dhira by training • Sad GoswamiAstakam – “dhiradhira-jana-priyaupriya-karau.” • Krsnaconsciousness movement is appreciable by the both classes, dhira and adhira. Those who are advanced by austerities, controlling the senses, and those who are not so, very fallen, both of them.

14. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.14 ṛṣibhir yācito bheje navamaḿ pārthivaḿ vapuḥ dugdhemām oṣadhīr viprās tenāyaḿ sa uśattamaḥ TRANSLATION O brāhmaṇas, in the ninth incarnation, the Lord, prayed for by sages, accepted the body of a king [Pṛthu] who cultivated the land to yield various produces, and for that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.

15. Role of Iskcon: So there was such a time because Prthu Maharaja's father was a demon. He stopped all religious activities. Therefore people became demonic, and there was restriction of food supply. Then Prthu Maharaja made arrangement, and there was sufficient foodstuff. Dugdhemamosadhirviprastenayamsausattamah. Since Prthu Maharaja arranged the whole society to be religious, to be God conscious, everything become beautiful. This can be done even now. If people become Krsna conscious, the whole world will become beautiful, Vaikuntha, without any anxiety. That is possible. Because that is nature's law. Just like if you become criminal, the state police force will always harass you. You cannot get out of it. He'll harass you. But that is expensive job for the government. Because it requires extra police, extra management, extra everything. But if the people become honest, God conscious, so many expenditure will be reduced. And money will be saved for spreading Krsna consciousness or for Krsna's service. Then the whole world will become exactly as it was in the Prthu Maharaja's day. REF: SP Lecture 1.3.14

16. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.15 rūpaḿ sa jagṛhe mātsyaḿ cākṣuṣodadhi-samplave nāvy āropya mahī-mayyām apād vaivasvataḿ manum TRANSLATION When there was a complete inundation after the period of the CākṣuṣaManu and the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and protected VaivasvataManu, keeping him up on a boat.

17. Purport • Sridhara Swami: No devastation after each manu • JivaGoswami & SrilaVishvanathaChakravarti: Quotes from scriptures that devastation takes place after each manu. • Matsyaincarnation: To Show special mercy to King Satyavrata

18. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.16 surāsurāṇām udadhiḿ mathnatāḿ mandarācalam dadhre kamaṭha-rūpeṇa pṛṣṭha ekādaśe vibhuḥ TRANSLATION The eleventh incarnation of the Lord took the form of a tortoise whose shell served as a pivot for the Mandarācala Hill, which was being used as a churning rod by the theists and atheists of the universe.

19. Don't think that these are all stories. Surasuranam mathnatam. "How they can stand on the ocean? How they can churn? Oh, these are all stories." They are not stories. It may be story for you. Just like if you speak to an insect... divali-poka, insect divali. • Otherwise by your so-called calculation, you cannot understand what is the greatest and what is the smallest. But there are things smaller than the smallest and the greater than the greatest. • They are not stories. They are facts. But we cannot accommodate in our poor teeny brain • So therefore sastra says, atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih: [BRS. 1.2.234] "You cannot understand Krsna and God by your present imperfect senses. That is not possible." Na bhaved grahyam, "You cannot accept or you cannot receive by your blunt senses." That is not possible. Then how it is possible? "I have... My only asset is these blunt senses. How can I understand God?" Yes. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. If you engage in devotional service, then God will reveal to you, "Here I am. Here I am. I am like this." Just like Arjuna saw Krsna. He understood God. So if we take the position of Arjuna, submissive... Sisyas te 'ham sadhi mam prapannam, surrender, then God, by kindness, because you have surrendered, He will reveal to you.

20. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.17 dhānvantaraḿ dvādaśamaḿ trayodaśamam eva ca apāyayat surān anyān mohinyā mohayan striyā TRANSLATION In the twelfth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Dhanvantari, and in the thirteenth He allured the atheists by the charming beauty of a woman and gave nectar to the demigods to drink. Prabhupada : Ideal Family Life (Wife’s duty is follow the husband) If you do not like your wife then….

21. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.18 caturdaśaḿ nārasiḿhaḿ bibhrad daityendram ūrjitam dadāra karajair ūrāv erakāḿ kaṭa-kṛd yathā TRANSLATION In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nṛsiḿha and bifurcated the strong body of the atheist Hiraṇyakaśipu with His nails, just as a carpenter pierces cane.

22. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.19 pañcadaśaḿ vāmanakaḿ kṛtvāgād adhvaraḿ baleḥ pada-trayaḿ yācamānaḥ pratyāditsus tri-piṣṭapam TRANSLATION In the fifteenth incarnation, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf-brāhmaṇa [Vāmana] and visited the arena of sacrifice arranged by MahārājaBali. Although at heart He was willing to regain the kingdom of the three planetary systems, He simply asked for a donation of three steps of land.

23. Prabhupada Nectar Bali Maharaja – one of the 12 Mahajanas • Exemplary • Rejecting Bogus Guru • Anyone who is obstruction to worship the Supreme Lord, he should be rejected immediately. That is bhakti. • Anukulyasyagrahanampratikulyasyavarjanam. • Anything favorable for advancement of Krsna consciousness should be accepted • Anything unfavorable, that should be rejected. This is saranagati. Anukulyenakrsnanusilanam. • Surrendering Everything to Lord

24. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.20 avatāre ṣoḍaśame paśyan brahma-druho nṛpān triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ kupito niḥ-kṣatrām akaron mahīm TRANSLATION In the sixteenth incarnation of the Godhead, the Lord [as Bhṛgupati] annihilated the administrative class [kṣatriyas] twenty-one times, being angry with them because of their rebellion against the brāhmaṇas [the intelligent class].

25. Responsibility of King or Government: • To make people happy by enlightening them in spiritual knowledge • Not that how to make better arrangement for eating, sleeping, mating, and defending • Without that aim, no nation can become happy. No community can become happy. “So at the present moment we are in a very, very deplorable condition, no good government. Simply by changing, by so-called parties, the government cannot improve. The government can improve when there are Krsna conscious person. So if some day you turn all the people Krsna conscious, then you become president.”

26. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.21 tataḥ saptadaśe jātaḥ satyavatyāḿ parāśarāt cakre veda-taroḥ śākhā dṛṣṭvā puḿso 'lpa-medhasaḥ TRANSLATION Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, ŚrīVyāsadeva appeared in the womb of Satyavatī through ParāśaraMuni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were less intelligent. Prabhupada: Vedas – for Brahmanas Present age: Everyone is born Sudra. “KalauSudraSambhava”

27. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.22 nara-devatvam āpannaḥ sura-kārya-cikīrṣayā samudra-nigrahādīni cakre vīryāṇy ataḥ param TRANSLATION In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rāma. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist King Rāvaṇa, who was on the other side of the sea.

28. Ravana • Wanted to Build Staircase to Heavenly planet so any one can elevate without require pious credits • Challenged the authority of Lord • Similarly the modern scientists and atheists reject the authority of the Lord. He exhibited superhuman activities which no human being, including the materially advanced Rāvaṇa, could perform. Lord Rāmacandra prepared a royal road on the Indian Ocean with stones that floated on the water. The modern scientists have done research in the area of weightlessness, but it is not possible to bring in weightlessness anywhere and everywhere. But because weightlessness is the creation of the Lord by which He can make the gigantic planets fly and float in the air, He made the stones even within this earth to be weightless and prepared a stone bridge on the sea without any supporting pillar. That is the display of the power of God.