78 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 1

PURPORT

The doctrines of anthropomorphism or that of zoomorphism are never
applicable to Sri Krsna or the Personality of Godhead. The theory that a
man becomes God by dint of penance and austerities is very much rampant
nowadays, especially in India. Since Lord Rama, Lord Krsna, and Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu were detected by the sages and saints to be the Per-
sonality of Godhead as indicated in revealed scriptures, many unscrupulous
men have created their own incarnations. This process of concocting an
incarnation of God has become an ordinary business, especially in Bengal.
Any popular personality with a few traits of mystic powers will display
some feat of jugglery and easily become an incarnation of Godhead by
popular vote. Lord Sri Krsna was not that type of incarnation. He was
actually the Personality of Godhead from the very beginning of His appear-
ance. He appeared before His so-called mother as four-armed Visnu. Then
at the request of the mother, He bec: me like a human child and at once
left her for another devotee at Gokula where He was accepted as the son of
Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda Mata. Similarly, Sri Baladeva, the counter-
part of Lord Sri Krsna, was also considered a human child born of another
wife of Sri Vasudeva. In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that His birth and
deeds are transcendental and that anyone who is so fortunate as to know
the transcendental nature of His birth and deeds will at once become
liberated and eligible to return to the kingdom of God. So knowledge of
the transcendental nature of the birth and deeds of Lord Sri Krsna is
sufficient for liberation. In the Bhaégavatam, the transcendental nature of
the Lord is described in nine cantos, and in the Tenth Canto His specific
pastimes are taken up. All this becomes known as one’s reading of this
literature progresses. It is important to note here, however, that the Lord
exhibited His divinity even from the lap of His mother, that His’deeds are
all superhuman (He lifted Govardhana Hill at the age of six), and that all
these acts definitely prove Him to be actually the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Yet, due to His mystic covering, He was always accepted as an
ordinary human child by His so-called father and mother and other rela-
tives. Whenever some herculean task was performed by Him, the father and
mother took it otherwise. And they remained satisfied with unflinching
filial love for their son. As such, the sages of Naimisaranya describe Him as
apparently resembling a human being, but actually He is the Supreme
Almighty Personality of Godhead.
