540 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 10

material nature (tamo-guna) or the lowest of the material modes, kings
and administrators come into power without knowledge and responsibility,
and such foolish administrators live like animals for the sake of their own
personal interest. The result is that the whole atmosphere becomes sur-
charged with anarchy and vicious elements. Nepotism, bribery, cheating,
aggression and, therefore, famine, epidemic, war and similar other disturb-
ing features become prominent in human society. And the devotees of the
Lord or the faithfuls are persecuted by all means. All these symptoms
indicate the time of an incarnation of the Lord to reestablish the
principles of religion and to vanquish the maladministrators. This is also
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gité.

The Lord then appears in His transcendental form without any tinge of
material qualities. He descends just to keep the state of His creation ina
normal condition. The normal condition is that the Lord has provided each
and every planet with all the needs of the native living beings. They can
happily live and execute their predestined occupations to attain salvation
at the end, following the rules and regulations mentioned in the revealed
scriptures. The material world is created to satisfy the whims of the
nitya-baddha, or everlasting conditioned souls, just as naughty boys are
provided with playing cradles. Otherwise there was no need of the
material world. But when they become intoxicated with the power of
material science to exploit the resources unlawfully without the sanction
of the Lord. and that also only for sense gratification, there is necessity of
the Lord’s incarnation to chastise the rebellious and to protect the faithful.

When He descends, He exhibits superhuman acts just to prove His
supreme right, and materialists like Ravana, HiranyakaSipu, Kamsa, etc.,
are sufficiently punished. He acts in a manner which no one can imitate.
For example, the Lord, when He appeared as Rama, bridged the Indian
Ocean. When He appeared as Krsna, from His very childhood He showed
superhuman activities by killing Patana, Aghasura, Sakatasura, Kaliya,
etc., and then His maternal uncle Kamsa. When He was at Dvaraka He
married 16,108 queens, and all of them were blessed with a sufficient
number of children. The sum total of His personal family members
amounted to about 100,000, popularly known as the Yadu-vaméa. And
again, during His lifetime, He managed to vanquish them all. He is famous
as the Govardhanadhari Hari because He lifted at the age of only seven
the hill known as Govardhana. The Lord killed many undesirable kings in
His time, and as ksatriya He fought chivalrously. He is famous as the
asamaurdha, unparalleled. No one is equal to or greater than Him.
