Text 355] The Lord Instructs Sanatana Gosvami 201

TEXT 354
wasia ate eea—onfy asta’ |
ate 4 aif sca a-faota i oes I

avatara nahi kahe ——‘ami avatara’
muni saba jani’ kare laksana-vicara

SYNONYMS

avatara—the actual incarnation of Godhead; nahi—never; kahe—says; ami
avatara—| am an incarnation; muni—the great sage Mahamuni Vydsadeva; saba
jani’—knowing all (past, present and future); kare laksana-vicdra—describes the
symptoms of the avataras.

TRANSLATION

“An actual incarnation of God never says, ‘I am God,’ or ‘I am an incarna-
tion of God.’ The great sage Vyasadeva, knowing all, has already recorded the
characteristics of the avataras in the sastras.

PURPORT

In this verse it is clearly stated that a real incarnation of God never claims to be
a real incarnation. According to the symptoms described in the sastra, one can
understand who is an avatara and who is not.

TEXT 355
UDASlal Bis Pawan Faas |
CwtBagastentaeccHeTARe: t vce

yasyavatdard jhayante
Saririsv asaririnah

tais tair atulyatisayair
viryair dehisv asangataih

SYNONYMS

yasya—whose; avatarah—incarnations; jAayante—can be known; Saririsu—
among the living entities; asaririnah —of the Lord, who has no material body; taih
taih—all those; atulya—incomparable; atisayaih—extraordinary; viryaih—by
prowess; dehisu—among the living entities; asangataih—impossible.
