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Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.8.13
grihnato 'nuyugam tanūh
SYNONYMS
āsan — were assumed; varnāh trayah — three colors; hi — indeed; asya — of your son Krishna; grihnatah — accepting; anuyugam tanūh — transcendental bodies according to the different yugas; śuklah — sometimes white; raktah — sometimes red; tathā — as well as; pītah — sometimes yellow; idānīm krishnatām gatah — at the present moment He has assumed a blackish color.
TRANSLATION
Your son Krishna appears as an incarnation in every millennium. In the past, He assumed three different colors — white, red and yellow — and now He has appeared in a blackish color. [In another Dvāpara-yuga, He appeared (as Lord Rāmacandra) in the color of śuka, a parrot. All such incarnations have now assembled in Krishna.]
PURPORT
Partially explaining the position of Lord Krishna and partially covering the facts, Gargamuni indicated, "Your son is a great personality, and He can change the color of His body in different ages." The word grihnatah indicates that Krishna is free to make His choice. In other words, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and may therefore do whatever He desires. In Vedic literature the different colors assumed by the Personality of Godhead in different millenniums are stated, and therefore when Gargamuni said, "Your son has assumed these colors," he indirectly said, "He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Because of Kamsa's atrocities, Gargamuni tried to avoid disclosing this fact, but he indirectly informed Nanda Mahārāja that Krishna, his son, was the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It may be noted that Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his book Krama-sandarbha, has enunciated the purport of this verse. In every millennium, Krishna appears in a different form, either as white, red or yellow, but this time He personally appeared in His original, blackish form and, as predicted by Gargamuni, exhibited the power of Nārāyana. Because in this form the Supreme Personality of Godhead exhibits Himself fully, His name is Śrī Krishna, the all-attractive.
Factually, Krishna is the source of all avatāras, and therefore all the different features of the different avatāras are present in Krishna. When Krishna incarnates, all the features of other incarnations are already present within Him. Other incarnations are partial representations of Krishna, who is the full-fledged incarnation of the Supreme Being. It is to be understood that the Supreme Being, whether appearing as śukla, rakta or pīta (white, red or yellow), is the same person. When He appears in different incarnations, He appears in different colors, just like the sunshine, which contains seven colors. Sometimes the colors of sunshine are represented separately; otherwise the sunshine is observed mainly as bright light. The different avatāras, such as the manvantara-avatāras, līlā-avatāras and daśa-avatāras, are all included in the krishna-avatāra. When Krishna appears, all the avatāras appear with Him. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.26):
yathāvidāsinah kulyāh
The avatāras incessantly appear, like incessantly flowing water. No one can count how many waves there are in flowing water, and similarly there is no limitation of the avatāras. And Krishna is the full representation of all avatāras because He is the source of all avatāras. Krishna is amśī, whereas others are amśa, part of Krishna. All living entities, including us, are amśas (mamaivāmśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtah sanātanah [Bg. 15.7]). These amśas are of different magnitude. Human beings (who are minute amśas) and the demigods, vishnu-tattva and all other living beings are all part of the Supreme. Nityo nityānām cetanaś cetanānām (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13). Krishna is the full representation of all living entities, and when Krishna is present, all avatāras are included in Him.
The Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes the incarnations for each yuga in chronological order. The Bhāgavatam says, krite śuklaś catur-bāhuh, tretāyām rakta-varno'sau, dvāpare bhagavān śyāmah and krishna-varnam tvishākrishnam [SB 11.5.32]. We actually see that in Kali-yuga, Bhagavān has appeared in pīta-varna, or a yellow color, as Gaurasundara, although the Bhāgavatam speaks of krishna-varnam. To adjust all these statements, one should understand that although in some yugas some of the colors are prominent, in every yuga, whenever Krishna appears, all the colors are present. Krishna-varnam tvishākrishnam: although Caitanya Mahāprabhu appears without krishna, or a blackish color, He is understood to be Krishna Himself. Idānīm krishnatām gatah. The same original Krishna who appears in different varnas has now appeared. The word āsan indicates that He is always present. Whenever the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in His full feature, He is understood to be krishna-varnam, although He appears in different colors. Prahlāda Mahārāja states that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is channa; that is, although He is Krishna, He is covered by a yellow color. Thus the Gaudīya Vaishnavas accept the conclusion that although Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in pīta color, He is Krishna.
sāńgopāńgāstra-pārshadam
yajñaih sańkīrtana-prāyair
(Bhāg. 11.5.32)
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
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