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The Lord Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī
135
guṇāvatāra, āra manvantarāvatāra yugāvatāra, āra śaktyāveśāvatāra
SYNONYMS
guṇa-avatāra —the incarnations to control the material qualities;  āra —also;  manu-antara-avatāra —the incarnations of the Manus;  yuga-avatāra —the incarnations according to different  yugas ;  āra —and;  śakti-āveśa-avatāra —empowered incarnations.
TRANSLATION
“There are incarnations that control the material qualities [guṇa-avatāras], incarnations of the Manus [manvantara-avatāras], incarnations in different millenniums [yuga-avatāras] and incarnations of empowered living entities [śaktyāveśa-avatāras].
PURPORT
The  guṇa-avatāras  are three—Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu ( Bhāg.  10.88.3). The  avatāras  of Manu, or  manvantara-avatāras , are listed as follows in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (8.1.5,13): (1) Yajña, (2) Vibhu, (3) Satyesena, (4) Hari, (5) Vaikuṇṭha, (6) Ajita, (7) Vāmana, (8) Sārvabhauma, (9) Rṣabha, (10) Viṣvaksena, (11) Dharmasetu, (12) Sudhāmā, (13) Yogeśvara and (14) Bṛhadbhānu. Altogether these are fourteen in number, and of these, both Yaja and Vāmana are also counted among the  līlā-avatāras . All these Manu incarnations are sometimes called  vaibhava-avatāras .
The four  yuga-avatāras  are (1)  śukla  (white) in the Satya-yuga ( Bhāg.  11.5.21), (2)  rakta  (red) in the Tretā-yuga ( Bhāg.  11.5.24), (3)  śyāma  (dark blue) in the Dvāpara-yuga ( Bhāg.  11.5.27), and (4) generally  kṛṣṇa  (black) but in special cases  pīta  (yellow) as Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the Kali-yuga, ( Bhāg.  11.5.32 and 10.8.13).
The  śaktyāveśa-avatāra  is categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption ( bhagavad-āveśa ) like Kapiladeva or Rṣabhadeva and (2) divinely empowered forms ( śaktyāveśa ), of whom there are seven: (1) Śeṣa Nāga in the Vaikuṇṭha world, empowered for the personal service of the Supreme Lord ( sva-sevana-śakti ), (2) Anantadeva, empowered to bear all the planets within the universe ( bhūdhāraṇa-śakti ), (3) Lord Brahmā, empowered with the energy to create the cosmic manifestation ( sṛṣṭi-śakti ), (4) Catuḥsana, or the Kumāras, specifically empowered to distribute transcendental knowledge ( jñāna-śakti ), (5) Nārada Muni, empowered to distribute devotional service ( bhakti-śakti ), (6) Mahārāja Pṛthu, specifically empowered to rule and maintain the living entities ( pālana-śakti ) and (7) Paraśurāma, specifically empowered to cut down rogues and demons ( duṣṭadamana-śakti ).