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TEXT 246
gunavatara, ara manvantaravatara
yugavatara, ara saktyavesavatara
SYNONYMS
guna-avatarathe incarnations to control the material qualities; araalso; manu-antara-avatarathe incarnations of the Manus; yuga-avatarathe incarnations according to different yugas; araand; sakti-avesa-avataraempowered incarnations.
TRANSLATION
"There are incarnations that control the material qualities [guna-avataras], incarnations of the Manus [manvantara-avataras], incarnations in different millenniums [yuga-avataras] and incarnations of empowered living entities [saktyavesa-avataras].
PURPORT
The guna-avataras are three-Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Lord Visnu (Bhag. 10.88.3). The avataras of Manu, or manvantara-avataras, are listed as follows in Srimad-Bhagavatam (8.1.5,13): (1) Yajna, (2) Vibhu, (3) Satyasena, (4) Hari, (5) Vaikuntha, (6) Ajita, (7) Vamana, (8) Sarvabhauma, (9) Rsabha, (10) Visvaksena, (11) Dharmasetu, (12) Sudhama, (13) Yogesvara and (14) Brhadbhanu. Altogether these are fourteen in number, and of these, both Yajna and Vamana are also counted among the lila-avataras. All these Manu incarnations are sometimes called vaibhava-avataras.
The four yuga-avataras are (1) sukla (white) in the Satya-yuga (Bhag. 11.5.21), (2) rakta (red) in the Treta-yuga (Bhag. 11.5.24), (3) syama (dark blue) in the Dvapara-yuga (Bhag. 11.5.27), and (4) generally krsna (black) but in special cases pita (yellow) as Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the Kali-yuga, (Bhag. 11.5.32 and 10.8.13).
The saktyavesa-avatara is categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption (bhagavad-avesa) like Kapiladeva or Rsabhadeva and (2) divinely empowered forms (saktyavesa), of whom there are seven: (1) Sesa Naga in the Vaikuntha world, empowered for the personal service of the Supreme Lord (sva-sevana-sakti), (2) Anantadeva, empowered to bear all the planets within the universe (bhu-dharana-sakti), (3) Lord Brahma, empowered with the energy to create the cosmic manifestation (srsti-sakti), (4) Catuhsana, or the Kumaras, specifically empowered to distribute transcendental knowledge (jnana-sakti), (5) Narada Muni, empowered to distribute devotional service (bhakti-sakti), (6) Maharaja Prthu, specifically empowered to rule and maintain the living entities (palana-sakti) and (7) Parasurama, specifically empowered to cut down rogues and demons (dusta-damana-sakti).
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