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Names of twenty-five lila-avataras who appear in one day of Brahma, which is called a kalpa, so are sometimes called kalpa-avataras

Expressions researched:
"twenty-five Personalities of Godhead are known as lila-avataras" |"twenty-five lila-avataras"

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

In the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī there is a description of twenty-five līlā-avatāras.
CC Madhya 1.41, Purport:

The Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta is divided into two parts. The first is called "The Nectar of Kṛṣṇa" and the second "The Nectar of Devotional Service." The importance of Vedic evidence is stressed in the first part, and this is followed by a description of the original form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Śrī Kṛṣṇa and descriptions of His pastimes and expansions in svāṁśa (personal forms) and vibhinnāṁśa. According to different absorptions, the incarnations are called āveśa and tad-ekātma. The first incarnation is divided into three puruṣāvatāras—namely, Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Then there are the three incarnations of the modes of nature—namely, Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara (Śiva). All the paraphernalia used in the service of the Lord is transcendental, beyond the three qualities of this material world.

There is also a description of twenty-five līlā-avatāras, namely:

#Catuḥsana (the Kumāras);

#Nārada;

#Varāha;

#Matsya;

#Yajña;

#Nara-nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi;

#Kapila;

#Dattātreya;

#Hayagrīva;

#Haṁsa;

#Pṛśnigarbha;

#Ṛṣabha;

#Pṛthu;

#Nṛsiṁha;

#Kūrma;

#Dhanvantari;

#Mohinī;

#Vāmana;

#Paraśurāma;

#Dāśarathi;

#Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana;

#Balarāma;

#Vāsudeva;

#Buddha and

#Kalki.

There are also fourteen incarnations of Manu: Yajña, Vibhu, Satyasena, Hari, Vaikuṇṭha, Ajita, Vāmana, Sārvabhauma, Ṛṣabha, Viṣvaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudhāmā, Yogeśvara and Bṛhadbhānu. There are also four incarnations for the four yugas, and their colors are described as white, red, blackish and black (sometimes yellow, as in the case of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu). There are different types of millenniums and incarnations for those millenniums. The categories called āveśa, prābhava, vaibhava and para constitute different situations for the different incarnations. According to specific pastimes, the names are spiritually empowered. There are also descriptions of the difference between the powerful and the power, and the inconceivable activities of the Supreme Lord.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no one is greater than Him. He is the source of all incarnations. In the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta there are descriptions of His partial incarnations, a description of the impersonal Brahman effulgence (actually the bodily effulgence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa), the superexcellence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes as an ordinary human being with two hands and so forth. There is nothing to compare with the two-armed form of the Lord. In the spiritual world (vaikuṇṭha-jagat) there is no distinction between the owner of the body and the body itself. In the material world the owner of the body is called the soul, and the body is called a material manifestation. In the Vaikuṇṭha world, however, there is no such distinction. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is unborn, and His appearance as an incarnation is perpetual. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are divided into two parts—manifest and unmanifest. For example, when Kṛṣṇa takes His birth within this material world, His pastimes are considered to be manifest. However, when He disappears, one should not think that He is finished, for His pastimes are going on in an unmanifest form. Varieties of humors, however, are enjoyed by the devotees and Lord Kṛṣṇa during His manifest pastimes. After all, His pastimes in Mathurā, Vṛndāvana and Dvārakā are eternal and are going on perpetually somewhere in some part of the universe.

A līlā-avatāra is an incarnation of the Lord who performs a variety of activities without making any special endeavor. He always has one pastime after another, all full of transcendental pleasure, and these pastimes are fully controlled by the Supreme Person. The Supreme Person is totally independent of all others in these pastimes.
CC Madhya 6.99, Translation and Purport:

"In this Age of Kali there is no līlā-avatāra of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore He is known as Triyuga. That is one of His holy names."

A līlā-avatāra is an incarnation of the Lord who performs a variety of activities without making any special endeavor. He always has one pastime after another, all full of transcendental pleasure, and these pastimes are fully controlled by the Supreme Person. The Supreme Person is totally independent of all others in these pastimes. While teaching Sanātana Gosvāmī (Cc. Madhya 20.296–298), Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out that one cannot count the number of līlā-avatāras:

līlāvatāra kṛṣṇera nā yāya gaṇana
pradhāna kariyā kahi dig-daraśana

"However," the Lord told Sanātana, "I shall explain the chief līlā-avatāras."

matsya, kūrma, raghunātha, nṛsiṁha, vāmana
varāhādi—lekhā yāṅra nā yāya gaṇana

Thus the Lord's incarnations were enumerated, including Matsya, the fish incarnation; Kūrma, the tortoise; Lord Rāmacandra; Nṛsiṁhadeva; Vāmanadeva; and Varāha, the boar incarnation. Thus there are innumerable līlā-avatāras, and all of these exhibit wonderful pastimes. Lord Varāha, the boar incarnation, lifted the entire planet earth from the depths of the Garbhodaka Ocean. The tortoise incarnation, Lord Kūrma, became a pivot for the emulsification of the whole sea, and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared as half-man, half-lion. These are some of the wonderful and uncommon features of līlā-avatāras.

In his book Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has enumerated the following twenty-five līlā-avatāras:

#Catuḥ-sana;

#Nārada;

#Varāha;

#Matsya;

#Yajña;

#Nara-Nārāyaṇa;

#Kapila;

#Dattātreya;

#Hayaśīrṣa (Hayagrīva);

#Haṁsa;

#Pṛśnigarbha;

#Ṛṣabha;

#Pṛthu;

#Nṛsiṁha;

#Kūrma;

#Dhanvantari;

#Mohinī;

#Vāmana;

#Paraśurāma;

#Rāghavendra;

#Vyāsa;

#Balarāma;

#Kṛṣṇa;

#Buddha and

#Kalki.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not mentioned as a līlā-avatāra because He is an incarnation in disguise (channa-avatāra). In this Age of Kali there are no līlā-avatāras, but there is an incarnation of the Lord manifested in the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This has been explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

These twenty-five Personalities of Godhead are known as līlā-avatāras. Because they appear in each day of Brahmā, or in each kalpa (millennium), they are sometimes known as kalpa-avatāras.
CC Madhya 20.244, Translation and Purport:

"The first personal expansion is Saṅkarṣaṇa, and the others are incarnations like the fish incarnation. Saṅkarṣaṇa is an expansion of the Puruṣa, or Viṣṇu. The incarnations such as Matsya, the fish incarnation, appear in different yugas for specific pastimes."

The puruṣa-avatāras are the Lords of the universal creation. These are Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. There are also līlā-avatāras, and these include:

(1) Catuḥsana, or the four Kumāras;
(2) Nārada;
(3) Varāha;
(4) Matsya;
(5) Yajña;
(6) Nara-Nārāyaṇa;
(7) Kārdami Kapila;
(8) Dattātreya;
(9) Hayaśīrṣā;
(10) Haṁsa;
(11) Dhruvapriya, or Pṛśnigarbha;
(12) Ṛṣabha;
(13) Pṛthu;
(14) Nṛsiṁha;
(15) Kūrma;
(16) Dhanvantari;
(17) Mohinī;
(18) Vāmana;
(19) Bhārgava Paraśurām;
(20) Rāghavendra;
(21) Vyāsa;
(22) Pralambāri Balarāma;
(23) Kṛṣṇa;
(24) Buddha and
(25) Kalki.

These twenty-five Personalities of Godhead are known as līlā-avatāras. Because they appear in each day of Brahmā, or in each kalpa (millennium), they are sometimes known as kalpa-avatāras. Of these incarnations, Haṁsa and Mohinī are neither permanent nor very well known, but They are listed among the prābhava-avatāras. Kapila, Dattātreya, Ṛṣabha, Dhanvantari and Vyāsa are eternally situated and very widely known. They are also counted among the prābhava incarnations. Kūrma, Matsya, Nārāyaṇa, Varāha, Hayagrīva, Pṛśnigarbha and Baladeva, the killer of Pralambāsura, are counted among the vaibhava-avatāras.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Out of these, the incarnation of Haṁsa and Mohinī are not permanent, but Kapila, Dattātreya, Ṛṣabha, Dhanvantari and Vyāsa are five eternal forms, and they are more celebrated. The incarnations of the tortoise Kūrma, the fish Matsya, Nara-nārāyaṇa, Varāha, Hayaśīrṣa, Pṛśnigarbha, and Balarāma are considered to be incarnations of vaibhava.
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 7:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.31) it is said that Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are the origin of all living entities and that these two personalities enter into everything. A list of incarnations is given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3), and they are as follows:

(1) Kumāras;
(2) Nārada;
(3) Varāha;
(4) Matsya;
(5) Yajña;
(6) Nara-nārāyaṇa;
(7) Kārdami Kapila;
(8) Dattātreya;
(9) Hayaśīrṣa;
(10) Haṁsa;
(11) Dhruvapriya or Pṛśnigarbha;
(12) Ṛṣabha;
(13) Pṛthu;
(14) Nṛsiṁha;
(15) Kūrma;
(16) Dhanvantari;
(17) Mohinī;
(18) Vāmana;
(19) Bhārgava (Paraśurāma);
(20) Rāghavendra;
(21) Vyāsa;
(22) Pralambāri Balarāma;
(23) Kṛṣṇa;
(24) Buddha;
(25) Kalki.

Because almost all of these twenty-five līlā-avatāras appear in one day of Brahmā, which is called a kalpa, they are sometimes called kalpa-avatāras. Out of these, the incarnation of Haṁsa and Mohinī are not permanent, but Kapila, Dattātreya, Ṛṣabha, Dhanvantari and Vyāsa are five eternal forms, and they are more celebrated. The incarnations of the tortoise Kūrma, the fish Matsya, Nara-nārāyaṇa, Varāha, Hayaśīrṣa, Pṛśnigarbha, and Balarāma are considered to be incarnations of vaibhava.

Page Title:Names of twenty-five lila-avataras who appear in one day of Brahma, which is called a kalpa, so are sometimes called kalpa-avataras
Compiler:Sahadeva, Labangalatika
Created:06 of Feb, 2009
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=3, OB=1, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:4