Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 20.184

tad-ekātma-rūpe 'vilāsa', 'svāmśa' — dui bheda

vilāsa, svāmśera bhede vividha vibheda

SYNONYMS

tat-ekātma-rūpe — in the form of tad-ekātma; vilāsa — pastime; svāmśa — personal expansion; dui bheda — two divisions; vilāsa — of the pastime expansion; svāmśera — of the personal expansion; bhede — by differences; vividha — various; vibheda — distinctions.

TRANSLATION

"In the tad-ekātma-rūpa there are pastime expansions [vilāsa] and personal expansions [svāmśa]. Consequently there are two divisions. According to pastime and personal expansion, there are various differences.

PURPORT

The Lord's vilāsa expansions are described in the following verse from the Laghu-bhāgavatāmrita (1.15):

svarūpam anyākāram yat tasya bhāti vilāsatah

prāyenātma-samam śaktyā sa vilāso nigadyate

"When the Lord displays numerous forms with different features by His inconceivable potency, such forms are called vilāsa-vigrahas."

The Lord's svāmśa expansions are also described in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmrita (1.17):

tādriśo nyūna-śaktim yo vyanakti svāmśa īritah

sańkarshanādir matsyādir yathā tat-tat-svadhāmasu

When a form of Krishna is nondifferent from the original form but is less important and exhibits less potency, it is called svāmśa. Examples of svāmśa expansions can be found in the quadruple forms of the Lord residing in their respective places, beginning with Sańkarshana, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and also in the purusha-avatāras, līlā-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras and yuga-avatāras.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness