98 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 20

According to the Vedic literatures, there are different regulative principles for the
worship of each of these forms. If one takes advantage of the Vedic literatures and
purifies himself by following the rules and regulations, ultimately he worships the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (4.11): mama
vartmadnuvartante manusyah partha sarvasah. Worship of the demigods is in a
sense worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but such worship is said to
be avidhi-purvakam, improper. Actually demigod worship is meant for unin-
telligent men. One who is intelligent considers the words of the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead: sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. One
who worships demigods worships the Supreme Lord indirectly, but according to
the revealed scriptures, there is no need to worship Him indirectly. One can wor-
ship Him directly.

TEXT 174

Cases scar—Aleerata |
adaia-cow, HA -~ SCRA Hala $98 0

vaibhava-prakasa krsnera —Sri-balarama
varna-matra-bheda, saba——krsnera samdana

SYNONYMS

vaibhava-prakdsa—manifestation of the vaibhava feature; krsnera—of Lord
Krsna; sri-balarama—Sri Balarama; varna-matra—color only; bheda—difference;
saba—everything; krsnera samana—equal to Krsna.

TRANSLATION

_ “The first manifestation of the vaibhava feature of Krsna is Sti Balaramaji.
Sri Balarama and Krsna have different bodily colors, but otherwise Sri
Balarama is equal to Krsna in all respects.

PURPORT

To understand the difference between svayan-rdpa, tad-ekatma-ripa, avesa,
prabhava and vaibhava, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given the following de-
scription. In the beginning, Krsna has three bodily features: (1) svayam-rdpa, as a
cowherd boy in Vrndavana; (2) tad-ekatma-ripa, which is divided into svamsaka
and vildsa; and (3) dvesa-rupa. The svamsaka, or expansions of the personal
potency, are (1) Karanodakasayi, | Garbhodakasayi, KsirodakaSayi and
(2) incarnations such as the fish, tortoise, boar and Nrsirnha. The vildsa-rdjpa has a
prabhava division, including Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
There is also a vaibhava division in which there are twenty-four forms, including
