In this Fourth Chapter the son of Jayantī, Drumila, will address King Nimi. The forty-eighth verse of the Third Chapter stated, mūrtyābhimatayātmanaḥ: “One should worship the particular form of the Lord most attractive to oneself.” Similarly it was stated in the previous chapter, stavaiḥ stutvā named dharim: “One should bow down to Lord Hari after glorifying Him with prayers.” Thus it is assumed that the worshiper has knowledge of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental qualities and pastimes in order to execute the process of worship previously described. King Nimi, therefore, is eagerly inquiring about the various incarnations of the Supreme Lord so that he can ascertain which particular form of the Supreme Lord is most suitable for his personal worship. It is understood that King Nimi is a Vaiṣṇava, or devotee, who is trying to advance in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is important to note in this regard that the word abhimata-mūrti, meaning “one’s most desirable form,” does not indicate that one may concoct a form of the Lord by one’s own whim. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. All the forms of the Supreme Lord are anādim, or eternal. Thus there is no question of concocting a form, because such a concoction would be ādi, or the origin of the concocted form. Abhimata-mūrti means that among the eternal forms of the Lord one should select that form which most inspires one’s love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such love cannot be imitated, but it is automatically aroused when one follows the prescribed rules and regulations given by the bona fide spiritual master and submissively hears these descriptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

In reply to King Nimi’s request that the nava-yogendras describe all the qualities and pastimes of the Lord, Śrī Drumila here explains that only the most foolish person would even attempt such a comprehensive description of the unlimited qualities and pastimes of the Personality of Godhead. Such foolish, childish persons, however, are far more advanced than ignorant materialistic scientists who actually try to describe all knowledge without even referring to the Personality of Godhead. In other words, although it is impossible to describe the Lord fully, foolish atheistic scientists attempt to describe all knowledge without even having reached the most preliminary knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. Such atheistic persons should be understood to be shortsighted and of very weak intelligence, despite their showy material achievements, which ultimately end in great suffering and destruction. It is said that Lord Anantadeva Himself, with His innumerable tongues, cannot even begin to vibrate completely the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The example given in this verse is very nice. No human being can hope to count the number of particles on the surface of the earth; therefore no one should foolishly try to understand the Supreme Lord by his own tiny endeavor. One should submissively hear knowledge of God as it is spoken by God Himself in Bhagavad-gītā, and thus one should gradually be elevated to the stage of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. According to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by tasting a drop of seawater one can get a general idea of the flavor of the entire ocean. Similarly, by submissively hearing about the Personality of Godhead one can acquire a qualitative understanding of the Absolute Truth, although quantitatively one’s knowledge can never be complete.

The words bhūtaiḥ pañcabhiḥ in this verse refer to the five gross material elements — earth, water, fire, air and sky — which form the basic building blocks of the material world. When the conditioned living entity enters within these five elements, consciousness becomes manifest, along with the functions of the mind and intelligence. Unfortunately, the consciousness manifest under the modes of material nature is governed by ahaṅkāra, or false ego, in which the living entity wrongly considers himself the enjoyer of the material elements. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣottama, enjoys His pure transcendental existence in the spiritual sky, the material elements are also meant for His enjoyment, through the process of yajña, or sacrifice. This material world is called Devī-dhāma, or the abode of the illusory energy of the Lord, Māyādevī. The Brahma-saṁhitā explains that the Supreme Person is not at all attracted to His inferior energy, māyā, but when the material creation is used in the devotional service of the Lord, the Lord becomes attracted by the devotion and sacrifice of the living entities, and thus, indirectly, He is also the enjoyer of the material world.

We should not think that the pastimes of Lord Nārāyaṇa as the Supersoul and creator of this universe are on a lower spiritual level than Nārāyaṇa’s eternal pastimes in the spiritual world. Were Lord Nārāyaṇa in any way to diminish His transcendental bliss and knowledge in His activities of material creation, He would have to be considered a conditioned soul, affected by contact with the illusory potency. But since Lord Nārāyaṇa is eternally aloof from the influence of māyā, His activities as the Supersoul of this universe are exactly on the same transcendental level as His activities in the spiritual world. All the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are part and parcel of His unlimited spiritual pastimes.

When a conditioned soul becomes completely exhausted by his strenuous activities, or when he is overcome by disease, death or fear, he loses all power to manifest practical knowledge or activities. Thus we should understand that independent of the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead we can neither work nor cultivate knowledge. By the mercy of the Personality of Godhead the conditioned soul acquires a material body, which is a perverted reflection of the unlimited spiritual body of the Lord. Thus the living entity engages in ignorant materialistic activities for society, friendship and love. But the entire program suddenly vanishes with the unforeseen dissolution of the material body. Similarly, our material knowledge is always subject to become null and void within an instant, since the material nature is itself constantly changing. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the prime mover behind the birth, maintenance and destruction of the universe. And the living entity should try to understand that Personality of Godhead who has given him so much facility for illusion. The Personality of Godhead actually wants the conditioned soul to surrender to Him and regain an eternal life of bliss and knowledge at the Lord’s side. The conditioned soul should reason, “If the Lord is giving me so much facility to merge into ignorance, surely He will give even more facility to come out of this ignorance if I humbly follow His direction without foolish speculations.”

This verse describes Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the second phase of the puruṣa incarnations of the Lord. This Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is glorified in the Puruṣa-sūkta prayers, expands Himself as the Supersoul to enter the heart of every living being. Through chanting the holy names of the Lord — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare — even in this degraded age one can find the Supreme Lord within one’s heart. The Lord is a person as much as we are, but He is unlimited. Still, a personal loving relationship exists between the tiny living entity and the unlimited Supreme Lord. In consideration of this personal relationship, bhakti-yoga is the only suitable process by which to come to the ultimate understanding of our constitutional position as eternal servants of the Supreme Lord.

In the previous verse the Supreme Personality of Godhead was described as ādi-kartā, the original person responsible for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material world. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, ādi-kartā, or “the original doer,” implies subsequent creators, maintainers and annihilators. Otherwise there would be no meaning to the word ādi, or “original.” Therefore this verse describes that the Absolute Truth expands Himself into the guṇāvatāras, or incarnations who carry out the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the universe through the modes of passion, goodness and ignorance respectively.

It is significant here that although this verse mentions creation through the material mode of passion and annihilation through the material mode of ignorance, it does not mention maintenance by Viṣṇu through the material mode of goodness. That is because Viṣṇu is viśuddha-sattva, or existing on the platform of unlimited transcendental goodness. Although Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are somewhat affected by their prescribed duties as superintendents of the modes of nature, Lord Viṣṇu is viśuddha-sattva, completely beyond contamination even by the material mode of goodness. As described in the Vedas, na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate: the Lord has no occupational duty. Whereas Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are understood to be servants of the Lord, Viṣṇu is completely transcendental.

According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Viṣṇu, described in this verse as kratu-patiḥ, the Lord of sacrifice, is understood to have appeared in a previous age as the incarnation Suyajña, the son of Prajāpati Ruci. Whereas Brahmā and Śiva faithfully engage in service to the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu is the Supreme Lord Himself, and therefore His activities of maintaining the brāhmaṇas and religious principles, as mentioned in this verse (dvija-dharma-setuḥ), are not occupational duties but līlā. So in addition to being a guṇāvatāra, Viṣṇu is also a līlāvatāra, according to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. The Mahābhārata (Śānti-parva) describes the birth of Lord Brahmā from the lotus flower emanating from Viṣṇu and the subsequent birth of Lord Śiva from the angry eyes of Lord Brahmā. Viṣṇu, however, is the self-manifested Personality of Godhead who enters the material universe by His own internal potency, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.8.15):

In conclusion, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme controller whose personal form is full of eternal existence, knowledge and bliss, who is beginningless but is the beginning of everything, who is known as Govinda, and who is the original cause of all causes, as stated in Brahma-saṁhitā. Still, that same eternal Lord manifests Himself as Brahmā and Śiva in the sense that the primeval controllers Brahmā and Śiva manifest the potency and supreme will of the Lord, although they themselves are not supreme.

It is understood that Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi spoke transcendental knowledge to great saintly persons such as Nārada Muni. On the basis of these teachings, Nārada was able to describe naiṣkarmyam, or the devotional service of the Lord, which eradicates material work, as mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.8): tantraṁ sātvatam ācaṣṭa naiṣkarmyaṁ karmaṇāṁ yataḥ. The ātma-svarūpa, or eternal form of the living entity, is devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. But our perception of our eternal form is covered by a material concept of life, just as our normal understanding of our life is covered by a dream. Naiṣkarmyam, or the cessation of material work, is possible only by the devotional service of the Lord, as stated by Nārada Muni himself: naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam (Bhāg. 1.5.12). The process of transforming ordinary karma into naiṣkarmya, or transcendental work, is summarized by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his commentary on this verse spoken by Nārada Muni. “Fruitive work, in which almost all people in general are engaged, is always painful either in the beginning or at the end. It can be fruitful only when made subservient to the devotional service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is confirmed that the result of such fruitive work may be offered for the service of the Lord, otherwise it leads to material bondage. The bona fide enjoyer of the fruitive work is the Personality of Godhead, and thus when it is engaged for the sense gratification of the living beings, it becomes an acute source of trouble.” According to the Matsya Purāṇa (3.10), Dharma, the father of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, was born from the right breast of Brahmā and later married thirteen of the daughters of Prajāpati Dakṣa. The Lord Himself appeared from the womb of Mūrtidevī.

This verse and the following nine verses illustrate the Personality of Godhead’s opulence of supreme renunciation. The word atan-mahi-jñaḥ, “not understanding the glories of the Lord,” indicates that King Indra was placing the Personality of Godhead on the same level as he himself, considering the Lord an ordinary enjoyer who would be attracted by mundane sex life. Indra’s plot to cause the falldown of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi could not affect the Lord, but it reveals the shortsightedness of Indra himself. Because Indra is attached to his heavenly kingdom, he took it for granted that the Supreme Lord was performing austerities to acquire such flickering phantasmagoria as the kingdom of heaven (tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate).

The word gata-vismayaḥ, or “free from false pride,” is very significant. If one becomes proud by performing severe penances, such penances are considered material. One should not think, “I am a great, austere personality.” Śrī Nara-Nārāyaṇa could immediately understand the foolishness of Indra, and thus He was amused by the whole situation. Cupid and the heavenly women, understanding their great offense, were trembling before Nara-Nārāyaṇa in fear of receiving a powerful curse. But the Lord, exhibiting most sublime saintly behavior, reassured them by saying, mā bhaiḥ — “Don’t worry about it” — and actually offered them nice prasādam and articles of worship. “If you do not give Me the opportunity to act as host to the demigods and other respectable personalities,” He said, “what will be the use of My āśrama? My āśrama will be void without the opportunity to receive respectable personalities such as you.”

Similarly, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is establishing beautiful centers in all the major cities of the world. In some of these centers, such as those in Los Angeles, Bombay, London, Paris and Melbourne, the Society has established very gorgeous preaching āśramas. But the Vaiṣṇavas who live in these beautiful buildings feel that the buildings are void if guests do not come to hear about Kṛṣṇa and chant His holy name. Thus, one may establish a beautiful āśrama not for one’s personal sense gratification but to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness peacefully and encourage others to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness also.

The demigods said, “Our dear Lord, although ordinary living entities such as the demigods and ordinary men are always disturbed by material pride and anger, You are always transcendental. Therefore it is not surprising that we fallible demigods could not appreciate Your glories.”

The demigods, headed by Kāmadeva, or Cupid, recognizing their offense at the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, here point out the insignificant position of the demigods in relation to the Supreme Lord. Just as a farmer must pay a specific percentage of his agricultural profit to the king or political head as tax money, all human beings must offer a percentage of their material wealth to the demigods in sacrifice. In Bhagavad-gītā, however, the Lord explains that the demigods are also His servants and it is He Himself who awards all benedictions, through the agency of the demigods. Mayaiva vihitān hi tān. Although a Vaiṣṇava, or devotee of the Lord, has no need to worship the demigods, the demigods, being proud of their exalted material position, sometimes resent the exclusive devotion of the Vaiṣṇava to the Lord and thus try to cause the devotee to fall down, as described in this verse (sura-kṛtā bahavo ’ntarāyāḥ). But the demigods here point out that Kṛṣṇa is directly the protector of His devotees. Therefore, so-called impediments become stimuli for further spiritual advancement for a sincere devotee.

The demigods here state, “We thought, our dear Lord, that we could disturb Your consciousness by our foolish tricks. But by Your mercy even Your devotees pay little regard to us, so why should You take our foolish behavior seriously?” The word yadi here is used to indicate the certainty that Kṛṣṇa is always the protector of His surrendered devotees. Although there may be many obstacles on the path of the sincere devotee who is preaching the glories of the Lord, such obstacles increase the determination of the devotee. Therefore, according to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the continuous obstacles presented by the demigods form a kind of ladder or stairway upon which the devotee steadily progresses back to the kingdom of God. A similar verse appears in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.33):

“O Mādhava, Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord of the goddess of fortune, if devotees completely in love with You sometimes fall from the path of devotion, they do not fall like nondevotees, for You still protect them. Thus they fearlessly traverse the heads of their opponents and continue to progress in devotional service.”

Those who do not accept the devotional service of the Supreme Lord can be considered in two categories. Those engaged in sense gratification are easily conquered by the demigods through various weapons such as hunger, thirst, sexual desire, lamentation for the past and vain hoping for the future. Such materialistic fools, infatuated with the material world, are easily controlled by the demigods, who are the ultimate supplying agents of sense gratification. But according to Śrīdhara Svāmī, persons who attempt to subdue the desires of the material senses and thus avoid the control of the demigods without surrendering to the Supreme Lord are even more foolish than the sense gratifiers. Although crossing the ocean of sense gratification, those who perform severe penances without service to the Lord eventually drown in tiny puddles of anger. One who simply performs material penances does not actually purify his heart. By one’s material determination one may restrict the activities of the senses although one’s heart is still filled with material desires. The practical result of this is krodha, or anger. We have seen artificial performers of penance who have become very bitter and angry through denial of the senses. Being indifferent to the Supreme Lord, such persons do not achieve ultimate liberation, nor can they enjoy material sense gratification; rather, they become angry, and through cursing others or enjoying false pride they uselessly exhaust the results of their painful austerities. It is understood that when a yogī curses he diminishes the mystic power he has accumulated. Thus, anger gives neither liberation nor material sense gratification but merely burns up all the results of material penances and austerities. Being useless, such anger is compared to a useless puddle found in a cow’s hoofprint. Thus after crossing over the ocean of sense gratification the great yogīs who are indifferent to the Supreme Lord drown in puddles of anger. Although the demigods admit that the devotees of the Lord actually conquer the miseries of material life, it is understood here that a similar result is not to be obtained by so-called yogīs who are not interested in devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

Lord Nara-Nārāyaṇa showed His causeless mercy toward the demigods by relieving them of their false prestige. Although the demigods were proud of their personal beauty and female companions, the Lord showed that He was already being adequately served by innumerable gorgeous females, each of whom was far more beautiful than any female companion imagined by the demigods. The Lord manifested such uniquely attractive women through His own mystic potency.

Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi was almost laughing upon seeing the defeat of the demigods. However, being extremely grave, He did not actually laugh. Although the demigods might have thought, “We are simply low-class fools in comparison to these women,” the Lord encouraged them to choose one of the women, whomever they considered equal in character to themselves. The beauty thus selected would become the ornament of heaven.

It is stated in the Skanda Purāṇa that the Lord of the universe, Hari Himself, once appeared in the form of a young brahmacārī named Kumāra and spoke transcendental knowledge to Sanat-kumāra.

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, Lord Rāmacandra was more or less a contemporary incarnation for the nine Yogendras. Thus they have offered particular respect to Lord Rāmacandra, as indicated by the word jayati.

It is understood that in this verse the description of the Lord’s appearance in the Yadu dynasty refers to the appearance of both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who together removed the demoniac rulers who were burdening the earth. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has pointed out that the description of the incarnations to deal with śūdrān, or low-class men, refers to both Buddha and Kalki. Those who misuse Vedic sacrifice to engage in gross sense gratification, such as the sinful killing of animals, are certainly in the category of śūdra, as are the so-called political leaders of Kali-yuga who perform many atrocities in the name of state management.