Pradyumna: Translation: "The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the world. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones like the fish incarnation, etc." (SB 1.15.35)
Prabhupāda:
- rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan
- nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
- kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.39)
Govindam, Govinda is ādi-puruṣa. So ādi-puruṣa means the original person. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said by Kṛṣṇa Himself, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7), "I am the Supreme Person." Now there are different forms of God, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). There are different incarnations. Just like īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). That Kṛṣṇa, He is staying in everyone's heart. This is also another incarnation, antaryāmī, Supersoul incarnation. Just imagine how many. Anantyāya kalpate, these living entities are unlimited, so this incarnation, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 18.61), the Lord in everyone's heart is staying. So how many you cannot count, there is no question. Not only that; it is said that aṇḍāntara-stham, He is staying as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu within this universe.
We should always remember that without spirit soul there cannot be any material development. That is practical. Just like the seed, the living soul, for changing his body, he is put into the semina of a male. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). This is the process of changing body. Daiva-netreṇa. This is being how you have to change your body. That is not under your control. After your death you are unconscious. Just like when you are on a surgical operational table you are completely under the surgeon. He puts you on the table, you unconscious, and he is operating as he likes. You don't protest. Similarly, we have got three condition. This is awakened stage we are talking, but at night we dream. That is called svapna stage, dreaming stage. And there is another stage, when you don't dream, you are simply unconsciousness. If somebody has gone surgical operation he might have experienced that completely unconscious. So then dream comes. When you come to consciousness from unconsciousness, you come to dreaming condition. From dreaming condition you come to this awakened stage. Similarly, you go from this awakened stage to dreaming condition and from dreaming condition to unconsciousness.
So as in the unconscious stage surgical operation takes place, you have no hand in it, you simply do not know what is happening, similarly, you are creating a condition of next life by your karma. Just like a clerk in a big establishment, he is creating situation by his work whether he will be promoted to a higher official position or he'll be degraded or he'll be (indistinct). He is creating. Similarly, we are creating our next life. This life is a chance for creating next life. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). You have to change your body. But that depends on your work. It is not the, na kaśca(?) (indistinct) karma. This karma is not created by Kṛṣṇa, or God. You create your karma. You like this. Somebody wants to come here and somebody does not want to come. That independence is there. That independence is; otherwise there are millions of people here in Los Angeles. Who is coming here? Nobody. Because they are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.