Text 47 E

          Similarly the distinction of Lord's form is that it is manifest only through His internal potency which is self luminous in nature. This was demonstrated earlier. So it is said in the Second Canto (2.9.4):

          O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahmä because of his non-deceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahmä. And, for the purification of the living beings, He instructed him in the Absolute Truth. 

Çrédhara Swämé comments:

          It was said in the eight chapter that because relation of the Lord with His body, is not different than that of a jéva then how is it possible to become liberated by offering devotional service to Him? It was stated there (2.8.8) "From His navel sprouted a lotus."

          In answer the verse says: "For the purification the living being, atma-tattva-visuddhyartham, or for the jéva the form of the Lord will surely be the source of knowledge of the Absolute Truth. What is that knowledge? Being pleased by the austerities, the Lord spoke the science of His devotional service to Brahmä. How did He do that? While showing His transcendental form (åtam). What was the reason for showing it? Brahmä served the Lord with non-deceptive austerity.

          The implication is this: The relationship between the jéva and his material body, is unreal, caused by ignorance. But in the case of the Lord, His transcendental body is manifest by His internal energy, YogaMäyä. This is the great difference. Therefore liberation is attained by His devotional service. This is his comment. 

          The same import is conveyed by Vasudeva in two verses beginning with S.B. 10.3.20:         

          Here the meaning is as follows: You are the agent behind the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe. When You desire to maintain the universe then You nourish Your white color which means the castes such as Brähmaëas which have religious disposition and created by You thorugh Your Mäyä or Mäyäçakti sheltered by You. Here His Mäyä refers to the mode of goodness, which is the essence and appropriate for the work of maintenance. When You desire to create, You nourish the brähmaëas and other castes who are full of desires because of the influence of Your Mäyä in the mode of passion.  And when You desire the annihilation of human beings, You nourish the sinful, impure class of people who are under teh influence of the mode of ignorance.

          An alternative meaning is that when You desire maintenance You manifest the form of Viñëu, which is white, meaning pure being free from association with the modes. Unlike Çiva and Brahmä, You remain free from any contact with material modes. Çré Çuka gave the same conclusion (S.B.10.88.3):

          Lord Siva is always united with his personal energy, the material nature. Manifesting himself in three features in response to the entreaties of nature's three modes, he thus embodies the threefold principle of material ego in goodness, passion and ignorance. 

And in (S.B.10.88.5): 

          Lord Hari, however, has no connection with the material modes. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-seeing eternal witness who is transcendental to material nature. One who worships Him becomes similarly free from the material modes. 

Therefore (S.B. 10.13.50):

          Those Viñëu forms, by Their pure smiling, which resembled the increasing light of the moon, and by the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes, created and protected the desires of Their own devotees, as if in the modes of passion and goodness. 

          Here the reference to the modes of sattva and rajas is metaphorical (utprekñä) not factual.

          Varnam (10.3.20) means form and not just beauty. Even if the meaning is accepted as guëamaya or consisting of the modes, it means the form that illuminates those particular modes. It should not be explained to mean white color. Because it will be established in the Paramätmä Sandarbha that Lord Viñëu  appears in a blackish complexion as Kñirodakaçäyé Viñëu, the guëävatära who maintains the universe. And Lord  Siva, who annihilates the human beings, is white in color and thus the above explanation will be contradictory. The same is stated in the Sandhyä Upäsanä described by Gobhila. Therefore, in this verse even Brahmä's complexion is not meant to be reddish.  Because the most ignorant tämasika beings like cranes are seen to be white in color,  while people like Çré Bädaräyaëa and Çré Çuka who are worshiped by sattvika persons are described as blackish in color. Thus there is no such correlation between the three modes of nature and the three colors.

          By His Mäyä mercy sva-mäyayä on His devotees the Supreme Lord manifests these forms in the universe. According to the Viçvaprakäça dictionary, "Mäyä means cheating and mercy." Red means excessive attachment such as for the desire to create because of mode of passion. Black means being devoid of knowledge regarding one's nature owing to the mode of ignorance. Because it is said (S. B. 1.2.24):

               Firewood is a transformation of earth, but smoke is better than the raw wood. And fire is still better, for by fire we can derive the benefits of superior knowledge [through Vedic sacrifices]. Similarly, passion [rajas] is better than ignorance [tamas], but goodness [sattva] is best because by goodness one can come to realize the Absolute Truth. 

          Kåñëa raises an objection: Why do you bewilder people by giving such improper explanations?   At present to vanquish the demons, I have accepted a blackish form out of tamas. This meaning also comes from the verse.

          Expecting this doubt Çré Vasudeva speaks the next verse while dispelling the doubt (10.3.21), "You have appeared to protect saintly people." The term nirvyühamänäù (S.B. 10.3.21) means while moving here and there. The import is as follows: Leave alone the other processes of knowledge hwich inform that You are Brahman personified and in pure goodness, even considering that You accept suitable forms according to the modes of nature, because dissolution is the cause of misery and is like deep sleep, it is a proper instance for such an application of the rule. But the time at present, being protected by Your blackish form is the cause of happiness, is suitable to who to vanquish the demons, who are in mode of ignorance and even these demons on the pretext of being killed by You achieve mercy in the form of liberation which is beyond all the modes. Thus there is no scope to give such an explanation.  As when one says "Bring saindhava" (salt or horse), it has to be interpreted according to the context. Thus it is said (S.B.7.1.8):

          When it is time for the mode of goodness to be prominent, the Lord empowers the demigods and sages. When it is time for the mode of passion to be prominent, He infuses the Asuras, and when it is time for ignorance to predominate, He supports the Yakñas and Räkñasas. He fosters the modes according to time. 

          Therefore Kåñëa's blackish color is not due to the mode of ignorance. The opinion that the Lord is red in rajoguëa, and white in goodness, is the opponent's opinion. The implication is that by the principle of the remainder the Lord's form is a manifestation of His internal  potency alone.

          Similarly Devaki also spoke the same meaning earlier, out of deference for the Lord (S.B.10.3.24): "Your form is unmanifest and primeval."

 

 Purport 

          Çréla Jéva Gosvämé proves that the Lord's name is transcendental and non-different from Him.  It follows that His body is also spiritual because a material object cannot have transcendental name.  The bodies of the conditioned living entities are products of the material elements.  In reality they are not owned by the pure soul, but owing to ignorance he develops an illusory relationship with them.  In Kåñëa's case, however, His body is made of conscious elements and is nondifferent from Himself.  The living entity accepts the material body by the laws of karma, but the Lord's body is beyond that.  His various forms are manifest by Yogamäyä.  Therefore it is possible to become liberated by worshiping His form. Çréla Jéva Gosvämé alludes to Çrémad Bhägavatam (10.3.20-21) to explain the purposes behind the Lord's various forms. 

          Lord Kåñëa performs the function of creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe through three guëävatäras namely Brahmä, Viñëu and Çiva. Although Brahmä and Çiva contact the modes, Lord Viñëu is always transcendental to them.  This is the conclusion of Çré Çuka in the tenth canto of 88th chapter of Çrémad Bhagavatam by reciting the story of Våkäsura.  The colors mentioned in verse S.B. 10.3.20 do not refer to the bodily hue of the particular deities, but indicate the material modes.  Lord Viñëu is blackish, Çiva is white, and Brahmä is golden.  There is no rule that white represents the mode of goodness and so on.  A crane is white in color appears very beautiful and stands in water on one leg very peacefully like a Yogé in meditation. But the purpose is to catch fish and evour them alive. This is an activity in mode of ignorance. On the other hand Çréla Vyäsa is black in color and not very beautiful, as he himself says (M.B. Ädi Parva 104.46) virüpatäm me sahatäm tayoretat paraà vratam--"If they tolerate my ugly form then that will be an austerity for them." But Vyäsa is considered a transcendental person and an incarnation of the Lord.

          An objection is raised.  Lord Kåñëa is black because He came to kill the demons, which is confirmed by (S.B. 10.3.20).  This proposal is refuted by Vasudeva in the next verse (10.3.21) where he says the Lord appeared to give protection--tvamasya lokasya vibho rirakñiñu.  The Lord's killing of demons only serves to protect His devotees, which is the real purpose of His appearance.  By slaying the demons, He grants them liberation.  Although there is misery in death, Lord Kåñëa's killing relieves one of all material misery.  Therefore, His killing of demons cannot be put in the same category as Lord Çiva's work of destruction, which is performed through the mode of ignorance.

          The meaning of a word must be decided according to it context.  Saindhavam means "horse" as well as "salt".  If the master orders, "Bring saindhavam", while eating, the servant should bring him salt.  If he gives the same order while standing at the gate, however, the servant should bring him a horse.  Similarly, çveta has two meanings--"white" or "maintenance".  One should accept the most suitable meaning and should not think the Lord's bodily hue represents His being in a particular material mode. 

          Therefore, Lord Kåñëa should not be considered influenced by the mode of ignorance because of His blackish hue and because He engaged in killing the demons.  His body is transcendental and His bodily color is also a manifestation of the internal energy. Just as He manifests a variety of forms according to His will, He similarly manifests a variety of colors in his different incarnations. All His forms and colors are interchangeable. Nothing is impossible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And the killing performed by Him is also trascendental. It grants liberation to demons and thus it cannot be take as an act in the mode of ignorance. As said earlier by Çré Çuka (S.B.10.88.5) Lord Kåñëa is never touched by the modes of material nature puruñaù prakåteù paraù.