Text 5] Matsya, the Lord’s Fish Incarnation 227

descend Myself.”” The Lord appears in each incarnation to save the world
from irreligious principles and especially to protect His devotees
(paritrandya sédhinam). Vamanadeva, for example, appeared to save
the devotee Bali Maharaja. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of
Godhead accepted the abominable form of a fish, He must have done so
to favor some devotee. Pariksit Maharaja was eager to know about the
devotee for whom the Supreme Lord accepted this form.

TEXT 4

NA Tay
cae frends aay aTTTaeT: |
TATA Ales FTuitteEI aq HAT 18 UI

Sri-siita uvadca
ity ukto visnu-rdtena
bhagavan badardéyanih
uvdca caritam visnor
matsya-riipena yat krtam

Sri-sitah uvdca—Sri Sita Gosvami said; iti uktah—thus being ques-
tioned; visnu-raétena—by Maharaja Pariksit, known as Visnurata;
bhagavan—the most powerful; badardyanih—the son of Vyasadeva,
Sukadeva Gosvami; uvaéca—said; caritam—the pastimes; visnoh—of
Lord Visnu; matsya-ripena—by Him in the form of a fish; yat—what-
ever; krtam—was done.

TRANSLATION
_ Sita Gosvami said: When Pariksit Maharaja thus inquired from
Sukadeva Gosvami, that most powerful saintly person began de-
scribing the pastimes of the Lord’s incarnation as a fish.

TEXT 5

wT Tay
mifargranyat saamty Fax: |
wise ware as Rudi
