TEXT 9
svamsa-vistara--catur-vyuha, avatara-gana
vibhinnamsa jiva--tanra saktite ganana
SYNONYMS
sva-amsa-vistarathe expansion of His personal forms; catuh-vyuhaHis quadruple form; avatara-ganathe incarnations; vibhinna-amsaHis separated forms; jivathe living entities; tanraHis; saktitein the category of potency; gananacalculating.
TRANSLATION
"Expansions of His personal self-like the quadruple manifestations of Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva-descend as incarnations from Vaikuntha to this material world. The separated expansions are living entities. Although they are expansions of Krsna, they are counted among His different potencies.
PURPORT
The personal expansions are known as visnu-tattva, and the separated expansions are known as jiva-tattva. Although the jivas (living entities) are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are still counted among His multi-potencies. This is fully described in Bhagavad-gita:
apareyam itas tv anyam
prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
yayedam dharyate jagat
"Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe." (Bg. 7.5)
Although the living entities are Krsna's parts and parcels, they are prakrti, not purusa. Sometimes prakrti (a living entity) attempts to imitate the activities of the purusa. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, living entities conditioned in this material world claim to be God. They are thus illusioned. A living entity cannot be on the level of a visnu-tattva, or the Personality of Godhead, at any stage; therefore it is ludicrous for a living entity to claim to be God. Advanced spiritualists would never accept such a thing. Such claims are made to cheat ordinary, foolish people. The Krsna consciousness movement declares war against such bogus incarnations. The bogus propaganda put out by people claiming to be God has killed God consciousness all over the world. Members of the Krsna consciousness movement must be very alert to defy these rascals who are presently misleading the whole world. One such rascal, known as Paundraka, appeared before Lord Krsna, and the Lord immediately killed him. Of course, those who are Krsna's servants cannot kill such imitation gods, but they should try their best to defeat them through the evidence of sastra, authentic knowledge received through the disciplic succession.

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