640 Stimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 16

on the royal seat and was not at that time exhibiting his godly powers,
nonetheless the reciters like the sata, the magadha and the vandi under-
stood that King Prthu was an incarnation of God. They could understand
this by the instructions given by the great sages and learned brahmanas. We
have to understand the incarnations of God by the instructions of author-
ized persons. We cannot manufacture a God by our own concoctions. As
stated by Narottama dasa Thakura, s@dhu-sastra-guru: one has to test all
spiritual matters according to the instructions of saintly persons, scriptures
and the spiritual master. The spiritual master is one who follows the in-
structions of his predecessors, namely the sddhus, or saintly persons. A
bona fide spiritual master does not mention anything not mentioned in the
authorized scriptures. Ordinary people have to follow the instructions of
sddhu, sastra and guru. Those statements made in the sastras and those
made by the bona fide sadhu or guru cannot differ from one another.

Reciters like the sita and the magadha were confidentially aware that
King Prthu was an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead. Although
the King denied such praise because he was not at that time exhibiting his
godly qualities, the reciters nonetheless did not stop praising him. Rather,
they were very pleased with the King, who, although actually an incarna-
tion of God, was so humble and delightful in his dealings with devotees. In
this connection we may note that previously (4.15.21) it was mentioned
that King Prthu was smiling and was in a pleasant mood while speaking to
the reciters. Thus we have to learn from the Lord or His incarnation how
to become gentle and humble. The King’s behavior was very pleasing to
the reciters, and consequently the reciters continued their praise and even
foretold the King’s future activities, as they had been instructed by the
sddhus and sages.

TEXT 2
wT a & afemragaa
TM aaiswae AA |

TET a den F
aracqateraty «= aerafira: 2 1

nalam vayam te mahimanuvarnane
yo deva-varyo ‘vatatadra mayaya
vendnga-jatasya ca paurusani te
vacas-patinam api babhramur dhiyah
