Sūtra 2.3.45

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 2.3.45:

स्मरन्ति च

smaranti ca

smaranti – the Smṛti-śāstras say; ca – and.

“The Smṛti-śāstras also say it.” (45)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 2:
  No Conflict Between Vedānta and Other Vedic Scriptures;
Pāda 3:
  The Supreme Personality of Godhead Manifests the Material Elements;
Adhikaraṇa 17:
  The Lord’s Incarnations are not Part and Parcel of the Lord, for They are the Lord Himself.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

In the Varāha Purāṇa it is said:

स्वांशश् चाथ विभिन्नांश
इति द्वेधांश इष्यते
अंशिनो यत् तु सामर्थ्यं
यत्-स्वरूपं यथा स्थितिः

svāṃśaś cātha vibhinnāṃśa
iti dvedhāṃśa iṣyate
aṃśino yat tu sāmarthyaṃ
yat-svarūpaṃ yathā sthitiḥ

“It is said that there are two kinds of parts and parcels of the Supreme: direct parts and separated parts. Direct parts have exactly the same nature as the Lord.

तद् एव नाणुमात्रो ‘पि
भेदः स्वांशांशिनो क्वचित्
विभिन्नांशो ‘ल्प-शक्तिः स्यात्
किञ्चित् सामर्थ्य-मात्र-युक्

tad eva nāṇumātro ‘pi
bhedaḥ svāṃśāṃśino kvacit
vibhinnāṃśo ‘lpa-śaktiḥ syāt
kiñcit sāmarthya-mātra-yuk

“Separated parts are different from the Lord. They are atomic in size and have very slight powers.

सर्वे सर्व-गुणैः पूर्णाः
सर्व-दोष-विवर्जिताः

sarve sarva-guṇaiḥ pūrṇāḥ
sarva-doṣa-vivarjitāḥ

“All direct parts of the Lord are filled with all virtues and glories and free of all vices and defects.”

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [1.3.28] it is said:

एते चांश-कलाः पुंसः
कृष्णस् तु भगवान् स्वयम्

ete cāṃśa-kalāḥ puṃsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam

“All the above mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.”

Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and the various incarnations, such as Lord Matsya, are parts of Him, but they are not different from Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the individual spirit souls are. Lord Kṛṣṇa is like a vaidūrya stone, which manifests different colors from moment to moment. In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in different forms.

In His various incarnations Lord Kṛṣṇa may display all or only some of His powers. That is the description of the scriptures. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the source of all incarnations, displays all of His six transcendental opulences in full. When the Lord does not display all His opulences in full, He appears as an aṃśa incarnation, and when He displays even fewer of His opulences, He appears as a kalā incarnation. In this circumstance He is like a great teacher, learned in the six sciences, who in certain circumstances teaches only a small portion of what he actually knows.

In the Puruṣa-bodhinī Upaniṣad it is said that Lord Kṛṣṇa appears with all His transcendental potencies, headed by Goddess Rādhā. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that various transcendental qualities, such as being supreme over all, being filled with great love, being accompanied by loving associates, filling with wonder Brahmā, Śiva, and all the demigods, sages, and wise devotees, manifesting many pastimes, such as sweetly playing the flute, that fill everyone with wonder, displaying a great sweetness of transcendental handsomeness, and being very kind and merciful, are eternally manifested in Yaśodā’s infant Kṛṣṇa. Lord Matsya and the other incarnations manifest some but not all of these qualities. Still, the incarnations of the Lord are not like the individual spirit souls, for the incarnations actually are the Lord Himself.

Now the author of the sūtras presents another argument.