Lord Caitanya says that incarnation, He never advertises Himself that He is avatāra. But experienced muni, those who are liberated souls, those who are expert in Vedic knowledge, they understand that this is avatāra, or incarnation, by the symptoms, as they are stated in the scriptures. In the scripture, the color, the activities, the time and the place and the parents—everything is described about the incarnation.
So, so that just like everything has to be understood by the symptoms, that is the scientific advancement. Just like a drug is tested in the laboratory and the drug, the symptoms and the taste, how it is, how the color changes, how it tastes in the tongue, everything is described there, so scientists proves, understands, the genuineness of a particular chemical by testing. Similarly, nobody should be accepted as incarnation. That is foolishness. Incarnation, they are stated in the scriptures. Their symptoms, everything is there, and one should understand from that. The avatāra never advertise. And anyone who advertises himself that, "I am incarnation," he should be at once rejected. He should be at once rejected.
- yasyāvatāra jñāyante
- śarīriṣv aśarīriṇaḥ
- tais tair atulyātiśayair
- vīryair dehiṣv asaṅgataiḥ
- (CC Madhya 20.355)
The first thing is that avatāra, incarnation, He hasn't got this material body. The first symptom is. And still, the avatāra appears before us.