TEXT 46
tais taih sveccha-bhutai rupaih
kale kale svayam vibho
karma durvisaham yan no
bhagavams tat karoti hi
SYNONYMS
taihby such appearances; taihby such incarnations; sva-iccha-bhutaihall appearing by Your personal sweet will; rupaihby factual forms; kale kalein different millenniums; svayampersonally; vibhoO Supreme; karmaactivities; durvisahamuncommon (unable to be enacted by anyone else); yatthat which; nahunto us; bhagavanthe Supreme Personality of Godhead; tatthat; karotiexecutes; hiindeed.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, by Your sweet will You appear in various incarnations, millennium after millennium, and act wonderfully, performing uncommon activities that would be impossible for us.
PURPORT
The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligionat that time I descend Myself. Thus it is not imagination but a fact that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His sweet will, appears in different incarnations, such as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Ramacandra, Balarama, Buddha and many other forms. Devotees are always eager to see one of the Lords innumerable forms. It is said that just as no one can count how many waves there are in the sea, no one can count the forms of the Lord. This does not mean, however, that anyone can claim to be a form of the Lord and be acceptable as an incarnation. The incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be accepted in terms of the descriptions found in the sastras. Lord Brahma is eager to see the incarnation of the Lord, or the original source of all incarnations; he is not eager to see an imposter. The incarnations activities are proof of His identity. All the incarnations described in the sastras act wonderfully (kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagadisa hare). It is only by the personal sweet will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He appears and disappears, and only fortunate devotees can expect to see Him face to face.

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