SB 01.02.34 bhavayaty esa sattvena... cited

Expressions researched:
"bhavayaty esa sattvena" |"deva-tiryan-naradisu" |"lilavataranurato" |"lokan vai loka-bhavanah"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.2.34, Translation and Purport:

Thus the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men and lower animals. Assuming the roles of incarnations, He performs pastimes to reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness.

There are innumerable material universes, and in each and every universe there are innumerable planets inhabited by different grades of living entities in different modes of nature. The Lord (Viṣṇu) incarnates Himself in each and every one of them and in each and every type of living society. He manifests His transcendental pastimes amongst them just to create the desire to go back to Godhead. The Lord does not change His original transcendental position, but He appears to be differently manifested according to the particular time, circumstances and society.

Sometimes He incarnates Himself or empowers a suitable living being to act for Him, but in either case the purpose is the same: the Lord wants the suffering living being to go back home, back to Godhead. The happiness which the living beings are hankering for is not to be found within any corner of the innumerable universes and material planets. The eternal happiness which the living being wants is obtainable in the kingdom of God, but the forgetful living beings under the influence of the material modes have no information of the kingdom of God. The Lord, therefore, comes to propagate the message of the kingdom of God, either personally as an incarnation or through His bona fide representative as the good son of God. Such incarnations or sons of God are not making propaganda for going back to Godhead only within the human society. Their work is also going on in all types of societies, amongst demigods and those other than human beings.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 8, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa says..., Kṛṣṇa comes, therefore, because we are sinful, and at the same time we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is more anxious for us than we are anxious for Kṛṣṇa. This is the position. Kṛṣṇa..., just like father. A spoiled child... The father is more anxious for the spoiled child, and the spoiled child does not care for the father. This is the position. We are all spoiled children, anyone who is in this material world. We are all spoiled children. We are all children of Kṛṣṇa. Many places in the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated. Aham bīja-pradaḥ pitā: (BG 14.4) "I am the seed-giving father of all living entities, in any form," sarva-yoniṣu. There are 8,400,000 forms. In water, on land, on the sky, so many different forms of living entities. Mṛti-ja(?). Deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu (SB 1.2.34). Deva means in the upper worlds there are demigods. In the middle we human beings, and lower than this, the animals. So we are in different forms of life. Soul is one—that is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa—but according to karma, according to desire for material enjoyment, we have taken different dresses, and we are wandering all over the universe, according to our karma. Sometimes we are becoming demigods, sometimes we are becoming dogs—according to karma. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta-kar, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, says,

ei rūpe bhramāṇḍa bhramite kono bhāgyavān jīva

guru-kṛṣṇa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

(CC Madhya 19.151)

We are wandering all over the universe. When you are doing some pious activities, you are elevated to the higher planetary system, ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā (BG 14.18). When we are not very much pious, but not impious also—ordinary, following moral principles—then madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ. And jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ. So in this way, up and down, we are wandering by transmigration of the soul. This is our position.

The nonsense civilization, they do not know that what is our main business. They do not know. Ajñānata. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto. Abodha jāta, these, all these living entities born in this material world in different forms of life, abodha jāta, all rascals. All rascals. We can prove they're all rascal. Nobody is intelligent. As soon as he'll become intelligent, kṛṣṇa ye bhaje seva(?). As soon as he becomes intelligent, he must be Kṛṣṇa conscious. If he's not Kṛṣṇa conscious, then we must accept him as rascal number one. (indistinct) He may be a very big man in the society, but we take him as rascal number one. That is our challenge. Anyone, he may be a ordinary man, he may be so-called swami or maybe so-called yogi or so-called leader, but our test is whether he's Kṛṣṇa conscious. One test. If he's not, then he's a rascal. That is our challenge. How we are challenging? Because we have got the test. Just like in the chemical laboratory, this test paper. Perhaps most of us will know, that urine test paper. If there is sugar, immediately the color of the paper will be different. If there is no sugar, it will remain neutral. Similarly, there is test paper. What is that test? That test is, Kṛṣṇa says, the supreme authority says, that na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Prapadyante narādhamāḥ. Māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ āsuriṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. So anyone who is not surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, he must be duṣkṛtinaḥ. Duṣkṛtinaḥ means he has got brain, but his brain is being utilized for sinful activities. So duṣkṛtinaḥ, mūḍhāḥ, and rascal who does not know anything—what is God, what I am, what is this world—he's a rascal. He's animal. Mūḍhāḥ means ass. As ass does not know what is God, what I am, what is this world, what is our relationship, what is this universe, nothing, no knowledge—mūḍhāḥ—and narādhamāḥ, narādhamāḥ means human being is especially meant for understanding this philosophical aspect of life, but one does not care. He is simply acting where to eat, where to sleep and where to get woman, and that's all. That's his business. This is mūḍhāḥ. This is the business of hogs and dogs. So therefore, mūḍhāḥ, duṣkṛtinaḥ, narādhamāḥ, these description was there.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

bhāvayaty eṣa sattvena

lokān vai loka-bhāvanaḥ

līlāvatārānurato

deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu

(SB 1.2.34)

Translation: "Thus, the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men and lower animals, and in His play He assumes the roles of incarnations to reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness."

Prabhupāda:

bhāvayaty eṣa sattvena

lokān vai loka-bhāvanaḥ

līlāvatārānurato

deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu

(SB 1.2.34)

So the Supreme Personality of Godhead, līlāvatāra, incarnates in many forms, not only in the human society, but in the demigod society, or lower than human society, the animal society also, tree society. Because as we have forgotten our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, He's always anxious to get us back to home, back to Godhead. So He incarnates Himself in so many forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). He has got ananta-rūpa, unlimited forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim. But all those forms are in essence one. Advaita. That is not different. Just like rāmādi-mūrtiṣu. The Lord appears as Lord Rāmacandra, or as Lord Kṛṣṇa, or as Lord Varāha. They are not different. In the material sense a varāha, a hog, is different from the man. Or the man is..., one man is different from another man. But the incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, they are not different. The same thing. Just like Kṛṣṇa, when He appeared, He, He's Kṛṣṇa when He was so-called three months old, and He was Kṛṣṇa when He was twenty years old. The same Kṛṣṇa. As we find difference that a..., the same man, when he's three months old, he's different from the twenty years old. When his age is twenty years, he's different from his age when his age is three months.

The modern fashion is that they want to become God by meditation, by advancement of mystic power. But that kind of God is not Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa does not become God; He's God always. Others, they try to become God by mystic power. We have heard so many so-called Gods, that "He attained such perfection of mystic power. Now he has become God." That is also another māyā. Nobody can become God. God is God; dog is dog. This is the law of identity. A dog cannot become God, neither God becomes dog. This is Māyāvāda theory that at the end the Absolute Truth is void, or impersonal. The Buddhist theory is void and the Māyāvādī theory is impersonal. But our philosophy is that God is originally the Supreme Person. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). We have discussed this point many times.

Now, here it is said: līlāvatārānurato deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu (SB 1.2.34). God is always anxious to get us back, back to home, back to Godhead. So apart from His incarnations amongst the deva, demigods... Just like Upendra, Lord Vāmanadeva, He appeared amongst the demigods. There are so many other incarnations, demigods. Tiryaṅ-narādi, tiryak. God appeared as incarnation of boar, incarnation of horse, incarnation of tortoise. Keśava dhṛta-kūrma-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. Kūrma śarīra. Keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. There are so many incarnations. Keśava dhṛta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare. Keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare. So He has got innumerable incarnations. As I have told you several times, just like the waves of the river, one cannot count, similarly, nobody can count how many incarnations are coming always, incessantly, one after another. So līlāvatārānurato deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu. And amongst the human beings, we know Lord Rāmacandra came, Lord Kṛṣṇa came, Ṛṣabhadeva came and Lord Caitanya came.

So Kṛṣṇa is always trying... Because He's the father. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya (BG 14.4). Sarva-yoniṣu. There are different species of life, forms of life, because we wanted to enjoy this material world, to utilize the resources of material world. That is our activity, even at the present moment. Always. Everyone is busy how to exploit the resources of material nature. That is advancement of civilization. Advancement of civilization means how to exploit the material resources. But they do not know, the foolish people do not know that is not advancement. That is entanglement. That is not advancement. This knowledge, they are lacking. They do not know what is advancement. Advancement means advancement in spiritual life. That is advancement. We are spirit. In essence we are spirit soul. We have been encaged within this body. Therefore advancement means how to get out of this entanglement of repetition of birth and death.

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

Ariṣṭāsura. The attacking with his horns. Kṛṣṇa is just like playing with a toy. That is Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is always anxious to give us enlightenment, that "This is not your life. Why you are rotting in this material world? Come back." In many ways... Deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu. He's coming not only in the human society, but in the animal society also. He's coming in all kinds of... There are so many societies, aquatics, jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅk... There are so many living entities, 8,400,000, and they have got their own society. As we know, birds of the same feather flock together. So that is called society. That is there in the... You'll find all the ants are together. All the birds are together. All the beasts are together. So we form this animal society or the human society. That is not a new thing. That is a... You'll see all the crows, they will flock together. The crows will not mix with the pigeons. The pigeons will not mix with the crows. That is natural.

So there are so many societies. Deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu (SB 1.2.34). And in every society, there is incarnation of God according to their position. According to their language, according to their problems, there is incarnation. We do not see other incarnations, but we can see the human form of incarnation. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan (Bs. 5.39). But from the śāstra we can understand that there are incarnations amongst the lower animals, beasts, birds and everywhere. The purpose is to reclaim the fallen souls. So not only He incarnates, but He sends His devotee, He comes as devotee. Just like Kṛṣṇa was misunderstood because Kṛṣṇa demanded that "You surrender unto Me." So we misunderstood because we are mūḍhas. The mūḍhas, they do not surrender. Kṛṣṇa says they are, they are very good scholars of Bhagavad-gītā. But they cannot understand these simple things. Kṛṣṇa is demanding, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), but he'll not do that. And he is a scholar of Bhagavad-gītā. The simple truth, he cannot understand. Neither he can follow. If I am actually follower of Bhagavad-gītā, then Kṛṣṇa says that "You surrender unto Me," then, if I am actually follower, I shall surrender unto Him. That is my business. But no. I shall not surrender. "I am Kṛṣṇa. Why shall I surrender to You?"

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

So only the rascals will follow such rascals. A man is known by his company. God has become so cheap. God, they, there are incarnation, there are hundreds and thousands of incarnation, but to accept that incarnation, we have to follow the direction of the śāstra. The śāstra, in every incarnation is described there, His symptoms are described there. When Rāmacandra is described, He is... What did He do, that is also given there. Even Lord Buddha's activities are there in the śāstra—He's accepted an incarnation. Kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati. Lord Kṛṣṇa's, Lord Balarāma. Everything is described there—Lord Caitanya. So we have to accept one incarnation with reference to the description given in the śāstra. Not that any rascal comes and he becomes incarnation and we accept. No. There are incarnations. That is a fact. As it is said: deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu, hundreds and thousands of incarnations. But if we are intelligent, if we are actually well versed in the śāstras, then we should corroborate. Not that anyone comes to become incarnation, we have to accept. No. That is not our business. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, cittete kariyā aikya. We have to test sādhu, whether sādhus are accepting. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is accepted by all the sādhus as Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even Śaṅkarācārya, who's an impersonalist, he says, sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ devakī-nandanaḥ. He accepts. And what to speak of other Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya. They all accept. Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepts. Formerly, Vyāsadeva accepted. Nārada accepted. Everyone... Vedas. The other day, when we met Gaṅgeśvarānanda, he quoted so many Vedic passages Kṛṣṇa, about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So in the Vedas, in the Purāṇas, in the Upaniṣads, and confirmed by great sages, saintly persons, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then why these rascals cannot find out God? We are giving the name of God, the address of God, the father, God's father's name also, Nanda-nandana, Devakī-nandana. So where is the difficulty to find out? There is no difficulty. But the rascals will not accept. They will continue their rascaldom. That is the difficulty. Otherwise, it is not at all difficulty to find out where is God. God is neither dead, nor God has become void or impersonal.

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

So in the Vedas, in the Purāṇas, in the Upaniṣads, and confirmed by great sages, saintly persons, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then why these rascals cannot find out God? We are giving the name of God, the address of God, the father, God's father's name also, Nanda-nandana, Devakī-nandana. So where is the difficulty to find out? There is no difficulty. But the rascals will not accept. They will continue their rascaldom. That is the difficulty. Otherwise, it is not at all difficulty to find out where is God. God is neither dead, nor God has become void or impersonal. He's person, dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara, Kṛṣṇa, playing on His flute and jāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī. He is existent always. Adyāpi kare līlāya gaura-rāya, kona kona bhāgyavān dekhibāre pāya(?). Kṛṣṇa is always existing. Kṛṣṇa's incarnations are always existing, before us. But if we are fortunate enough, we can see; otherwise not.

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-

prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi

jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno

na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan

(SB 10.14.29)

You cannot manufacture the incarnation of God. You cannot see the incarnation of God, provided if you are not blessed by God. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234).

So the fact is that there are innumerable incarnations of God. As it is said here: līlāvatārānurato deva-tiryaṅ-narādiṣu. And we have to accept Him as incarnation not by whims, not by public votes, but... Just like it has become a fashion. If a man is voted, without reference to the śāstra, if some rascals vote that "Here is incarnation of God," we accept? No, we have to accept with reference to śāstra, symptoms given in the śāstra, and then we shall... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu we accept as incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. It is confirmed in the śāstra. In the Upaniṣads, in Mahābhārata, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Everywhere, there are... If you read Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there are so many quotations from the śāstras. Then we accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There are some men here in Vṛndāvana, they do not accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu as incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, but there are... They'll not see... They'll not see to the evidences in the śāstra. They'll blind. They'll make themselves blind.