Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations
Chapter 18: Lord Vāmanadeva, the Dwarf Incarnation
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.18.11
dṛṣṭvāditis taḿ nija-garbha-sambhavaḿ
paraḿ pumāḿsaḿ mudam āpa vismitā
gṛhīta-dehaḿ nija-yoga-māyayā
prajāpatiś cāha jayeti vismitaḥ
SYNONYMS
dṛṣṭvā — seeing; aditiḥ — mother Aditi; tam — Him (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); nija-garbha-sambhavam — born of her own womb; param — the Supreme; pumāḿsam — the Personality of Godhead; mudam — great happiness; āpa — conceived; vismitā — being very much astonished; gṛhīta — accepted; deham — body, or transcendental form; nija-yoga-māyayā — by His own spiritual potency; prajāpatiḥ — Kaśyapa Muni; ca — also; āha — said; jaya — all glories; iti — thus; vismitaḥ — being astonished.
TRANSLATION
When Aditi saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had appeared from her own womb, having accepted a transcendental body by His own spiritual potency, she was struck with wonder and was very happy. Upon seeing the child, Prajāpati Kaśyapa exclaimed, "Jaya! Jaya!" in great happiness and wonder.
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.18.12
yat tad vapur bhāti vibhūṣaṇāyudhair
avyakta-cid-vyaktam adhārayad dhariḥ
babhūva tenaiva sa vāmano vaṭuḥ
sampaśyator divya-gatir yathā naṭaḥ
SYNONYMS
yat — which; tat — that; vapuḥ — transcendental body; bhāti — manifests; vibhūṣaṇa — with regular ornaments; āyudhaiḥ — and with weapons; avyakta — unmanifested; cit-vyaktam — spiritually manifested; adhārayat — assumed; hariḥ — the Lord; babhūva — immediately became; tena — with that; eva — certainly; saḥ — He (the Lord); vāmanaḥ — dwarf; vaṭuḥ — a brāhmaṇa brahmacārī; sampaśyatoḥ — while both His father and mother were seeing; divya-gatiḥ — whose movements are wonderful; yathā — as; naṭaḥ — a theatrical actor.
TRANSLATION
The Lord appeared in His original form, with ornaments and weapons in His hands. Although this ever-existing form is not visible in the material world, He nonetheless appeared in this form. Then, in the presence of His father and mother, He assumed the form of Vāmana, a brāhmaṇa-dwarf, a brahmacārī, just like a theatrical actor.
PURPORT
The word naṭaḥ is significant. An actor changes dress to play different parts, but is always the same man. Similarly, as described in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.33, 39), the Lord assumes many thousands and millions of forms (advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaḿ purāṇa-puruṣam). He is always present with innumerable incarnations (rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu [Bs. 5.39]). Nonetheless, although He appears in various incarnations, they are not different from one another. He is the same person, with the same potency, the same eternity and the same spiritual existence, but He can simultaneously assume various forms. When Vāmanadeva appeared from the womb of His mother, He appeared in the form of Nārāyaṇa, with four hands equipped with the necessary symbolic weapons, and then immediately transformed Himself into a brahmacārī (vaṭu). This means that His body is not material. One who thinks that the Supreme Lord assumes a material body is not intelligent. He has to learn more about the Lord's position. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), janma karma ca me divyam evaḿ yo vetti tattvataḥ. One has to understand the transcendental appearance of the Lord in His original transcendental body (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]).
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